The Final Scene - To a Violin String
by cophineonthescene
Summary: Danielle Fournier, a shy, introverted music student finds herself making fast friends with Delphine, the music student from across the road. But she finds out more than she bargains for. Can Delphine really keep this friendship professional or will her sentiments get in the wayagain? (Set before Cosima, Delphine's first subject) CD flashforward in C1, after that is fluff I promise!
1. Chapter 1

The lights dimmed, and Delphine's eyes locked onto Danielle. Pride gushed through her veins; this was her best friend, playing one of the world's most prestigious concerts, in front of so many extremely important people. But, however much Delphine stared, Danielle's attention did not waver from Mme Bereaud, and her gaze hung onto her every movement.

Danielle's heartbeat was so quick that she couldn't hear anything, she felt as though she couldn't move properly, the blood pounded through her ears and tingled in her fingertips. Delphine was out there. And this was the biggest performance of her life. Thoughts of Janika and the killer clouded her head.

She wasn't safe.

She panicked as she began to play, but soon became numb to all feeling as she got lost in the music. She was detached; she could hear the violin, the incredible intricasy of her playing, she could feel her fingers moving, but it was as if they were seperate entities. Her head was caressed by the flow of the music, her eyes shut, black and white notes etched into her brain like the grooves of a music box.

Delphine watched Danielle intently, the hot white light glaring down on the musicians, sweat running down her forehead. Delphine was on edge. She prayed to every god that Danielle would carry this as perfectly as she knew she was capable.

Up in the balcony, amid smartly dressed men and elegantly made-up women, a lone figure pushed her way through the second row and into the only spare seat at the very middle. People regarded her with disgust; her clothes were informal, scruffy and somewhat odorous, and she pushed past their legs with no apology or courtesy. She sat down, and rubbed her eyes like a tired child, pulling out a large pair of industrial sized binoculars and scanning the orchestra. The man beside her lowered his tiny opera glasses and turned up his nose. What on earth did she think she was doing?

She stared hungrily through the binoculars, and must've noticed something satisfying, as she laughed to herself loudly. This earned multiple glares of distaste from the spectators all around her. She simply shrugged her shoulders and sank back into her chair.

The piece was over, and the whole room erupted into a cacophony of clapping, Delphine's hands red raw after she had finished. She imagined wolf whistling and whooping was less appropriate in this situation than at a Habs game or a rock concert, so she decided to just go along with the demure act of clapping, hoping Danielle would simply_ know_ her hands were among the thousands she could hear showing their gratitude.

Danielle nodded her head towards the crowd, though she couldn't see a thing. Past the end of the stage was just a void of blackness and noise. She imagined the pride on her mother and father's faces, and swallowed a lump in her throat.

Many pieces passed, Danielle's eyes always closed in concentration, her body moving this way and that, as if throwing herself into the music. Her fingers flew around the violin's neck, dragging the vibrato, her right arm drawing the bow across the strings gracefully. Delphine watched only her, her black hair hanging loosely around her shoulders, a flattering black cocktail dress hugging her slim figure. Delphine's hair was perfectly held up in a beautiful updo, her lips strikingly red. She wore a glamorous black and silver dress, the silver sequins spanning from the thin straps on her shoulders to the tops of her ribs, the tight black skirt coming to just above her knees. She would have felt good about herself, if she didn't feel sick with worry and guilt. And she had noticed that her outfit had gained unwanted attention from Leekie's predatory eyes, and this feeling crawled up and down her spine.

The woman in the balcony watched boredly, sinking lower into her chair, sighing so that everyone could hear. Eventually, she got up, pushed her way back through the row of people beside her, and strode out of the door at the back, large kit bag clasped in hand. She entered an unlocked door which read: 'Employees only.', and made her way to the technician's nest, a caged area with huge panels of slides for lighting, and a balding man sat on a computer chair. She crept in silently, and tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around in shock, his eyes widening even further as his eyes met with her crazy, feral gaze. She smiled, tilting her head to one side, and immediately knocked him out with a palm strike to the temple. He collapsed sideways, and fell off the chair lifelessly. She kicked him with a foot and pushed him beneath the desk.

"I am sorry to hear you need a substitute technician, I will send one right away," She said, spinning on the chair, and laughing to herself. She unzipped her large kit bag, and pulled out a scaffolding, something like a tripod, and set it up in front of her chair. Next, she drew out a long, thin object - a sniper, and poised it carefully on top of the tripod. She gripped the handle, and closed one eye as she peered through the scope.

She laughed as she stared, unwavering, at the first violin player. The gun was poised precisely, the thermal imaging showing red figures playing music, the cheeks of the violinist almost white. "Okay, it's time to face the music, little sestra."

She dragged a finger down the lighting slide, causing the whole hall to plummet into complete darkness. The music carried on; the musicians had been taught that the show must go on, no matter what the cost. It was probably just a minor lighting difficulty.

Bang.

The music stopped dead. A heart splitting, gut wrenching screech of a violin string, accompanied by a sickening crack echoed out across the whole hall. The lights faded back in. Delphine scanned the stage. What on earth had just happened?! Her eyes searched instinctively for Danielle; though she couldn't see her straight away. Jumping to her feet, she saw her friend laid sprawled out on the stage floor, blood streaming out from a wound in her stomach.

"No!" Delphine screamed, louder than she ever believed she could. She felt sick to the stomach, and pain clutched her whole body. It was a dream. It wasn't real. PLEASE.

She clambered past everybody in her row. People had begun to scream and panic, and rush out of their seats, but she barged past them with no remorse, and jumped, hauling herself onto the stage where Madame Beraud and several members of the orchestra were huddled around Danielle.

"Get an ambulance!" Delphine shrieked. "We need help! Get her help! Somebody!"

The concert hall was emptying, and police sirens could be heard distantly. Delphine slapped Danielle's cheek gently.

"Danielle, Danielle, ma cherie. Stay with me. Give me your hand. You're going to be fine."

She clutched her friend's limp hand tightly, never stopping to hope that she would be fine. She couldn't die.

**AN: Hello, hope you're all okay. Nobody likes character death, I know. But at least you don't know Danielle...yet. I decided to do it with a wee flash forward to start with, so you witnessed the shooting before you fell in love with Danielle (which I hope you do). After this ensues a lotta fluff, believe it or not, more of Delphine's backstory and getting to know Danielle Fournier. Cause we never even knew her. It seemed logical to me that Delphine monitor the Parisien clone first, before Cosima, so I decided to write it.**

**Any reviews would be greatly appreciated, (plz) and don't worry, come back! This is a terrible first impression, but it's a fluff fic really, I know its hard to believe. And hi to any WTTT readers - yo dudes!**


	2. Chapter 2

_Some months before..._

The whole room was filled with the voice of the orchestra, playing as one, for no one's ears but their own and those of the conductor. The seats in the concert hall were empty on the cold December morning as the world renowned orchestra of the Conservatoire conducted their daily rehearsal. A young woman entered quietly, peering around the doorway before taking a seat on the back row. She folded her coat up on her knee, and sat with her hands clasped tightly, scanning the faces of the musicians.

She slunk back in her seat slightly, partly because she wasn't sure she should be there, but partly to fully relax and drown her thoughts and nerves in the complex, layered genius of the music. The piece had been going on for around 20 minutes or so, but each and every musician played with as much soul and passion as if they had just begun.

The conductor flailed her arms about, crazily perhaps to the untrained eye, but the orchestra was sharp and perfectly in time and in unison with each other, as if they were all limbs working for the same body. The young woman honed her eyes into one particular musician; the first violinist sat at the head of the orchestra, on the conductor's left. She had a mane of curly black hair, and a solemn expression as her fingers navigated the fret board expertly.

The eyes of every single musician snapped upwards to the conductor as she brought the baton up sharply, the music coming to an abrupt, though perfectly precise end.

"Bon travail," The conductor announced warmly. "Mais, clarinettes, you are required for sectionals practise, and Danielle, do not let me forget your solo piece. We will go through it tomorrow."

"Oui, madame. Merci." Danielle replied, blushing a little as the whole orchestra averted their attention to her.

The woman in the back row stiffened a little as she heard the girl's name, her heartbeat quickening. She watched as Danielle left her seat at the head of the orchestra and followed the rest of the group to the back of the stage, where there were a clutter of cases. She found her own battered wooden case, the black paint stripped away, the hinges almost swinging clean off, and placed her violin inside carefully. She loosened off the strings of her bow and strapped it into the velvet lid, snapping the clips closed.

The stream of students thinned out, and Danielle was one of the last to leave the concert hall. She shouldered her bag as she walked quickly down the aisle, her eyes glued to the floor. Delphine noticed her obvious lack of fashion sense; the long floral skirt which contrasted with her patterned top, and the over-sized duffle coat she wrapped around herself.

"Bonjour-" The young woman said, reaching to touch Danielle's wrist as she walked past.

Danielle stopped, surprised, and smiled. She blushed slightly, before returning the greeting.

"Bonjour,"

"Oh- uh, desolé. I have heard your rehearsals from where I live across the street and I couldn't resist coming in to listen. You're the head of the orchestra, aren't you?"

"Yes, first violin." She smiled shyly, gesturing to the case in her hand.

Delphine smiled and reached out a hand.

"Delphine. Enchantée."

Danielle shook it, her fingers cold in Delphine's warm grip. Clutching the bow all that time almost made them freeze up during rehearsals.

"Enchantée," She said shyly, taking Delphine's hand. "I'm Danielle. You have a nice name."

Delphine laughed, and hung her head a little, her short brown hair falling over her eyes.

"So, how long have you been playing violin for?" She asked.

"Since I was 4," She said simply.

Delphine raised her eyebrows.

"J'sais," Danielle laughed.

"Wow," She breathed. "You can tell. You play amazingly."

Danielle blushed, and thanked her very gratefully, as if she had never noticed her own talent.

"What about you? What do you play?" She asked in return.

"Me? Oh, I'm not exactly from here. I study Immunology at UPMC, so I'm no musician! I just live close by."

Danielle nodded slowly, "Ohhh," she said in realisation.

"Do you think it's okay for me to come along to your rehearsals? Your conductor won't mind, will she?"

Danielle shook her head dismissively. Her black hair framed her face, and accentuated her dark eyes.

"No she won't mind. Sometimes randomers come in off the street to listen." She said, before realising Delphine was just that. Delphine laughed, a little embarassed at herself. "Until we are rehearsing for a specific show, you are welcome."

Delphine smiled, keeping eye contact.

"Okay then, I'll be back tomorrow. The music was beautiful. See you." She said, brushing a hand past Danielle's arm and striding away.

Danielle stood still for a brief moment, before power walking quickly to her class. She couldn't keep the smile from spreading over her face, which she masked by pressing her lips together when somebody walked past. Why did speaking to a complete stranger make her feel so happy?

Delphine got straight in her car, slotted the key in the ignition smoothly and began to drive to the DYAD institute. Promising progression already - Leekie was sure to be happy with her. And for good reason. She needed this job.

**AN: Hey guys, hope you enjoyed this! I would really appreciate it if you could review this and let me know what you think! ~cophineonthescene**


	3. Chapter 3

Danielle walked briskly down the aisle again. She had seen Delphine, and gained quick eye contact with her, glancing awkwardly before deciding that Delphine actually did want to talk to her again. She reminded herself that this was normal friendly behaviour, it was just that it wasn't exactly a common occurrence for her.

"Allo Danielle," she smiled, getting up from the red velvet seat at the back.

"Bonjour," she said, genuinely happy that Delphine was making the effort.

"I loved that one you played at the end, your solo - pfft,"

"The Bach? And merci, c'est gentile. It's difficult, but it's getting better."

Delphine admired her modesty. she played flawlessly, with so much emotion, her eyes closed, her fingers dragging the vibrato, the expression on her face as if it pained her to do so. It was amazing to watch.

"Hey, I was thinking, do you want to go for coffee? You don't have a class right now, do you?" She segued smoothly as they walked along the dim corridor.

Danielle cleared her throat, trying to keep cool.

"Coffee? Yeah, that would be nice. I could do with defrosting," she joked shakily.

"Me too, I think the snow is coming." She observed, as they walked outside and noticed the dark white clouds.

Danielle led them to the Music Lounge, the coffee shop on campus, and ordered a roasted hazlenut latte, the winter speciality that she ordered whenever she had money to spare. Sometimes it was a luxury she couldn't afford, but she decided it would be worth it this time seeing as though she would have someone to sit with. Delphine ordered a cappuccino and took a seat by the window, noticing that her prediction was right, and the first snowflakes of winter were beginning to tumble from the sky in her view.

"Look! I told you the snow was coming," She said, beaming dreamily out of the window, momentarily lost in the drifting of the flakes.

Danielle sat down and stood her violin case on the floor, resting it between her knees so it didn't fall over. She smiled, and shivered, and took a large sip of her latte as she joined Delphine in watching the fluffy white snow falling.

"Are you are from Paris too?" She asked, thinking she recognised her accent.

Delphine tore her gaze from the window and replied readily.

"Yes, I was brought up in 7ieme arrondissement," She said, a little embarrassed.

"7ieme?" Danielle raised her eyebrows. "Genialll," _(Niceee)_

"Oui," Delphine laughed. "My parents are ground-breaking scientists, so they weren't exactly short of money. Not short of academic encouragement either."

Danielle nodded, so eagerly that Delphine wondered whether Danielle had had the same kind of upbringing.

"I know how you feel. I have played violin for 25 years, and it was the only thing they ever wanted me tor focus on. I am from 15ieme though, so they wanted me to use it as my way out. And here I am." She confessed.

Delphine nodded sympathetically.

"Yes, sometimes it feels you have made it, other times you wonder whether it was really what you wanted after all."

Danielle took a sip of her latte and nodded enthusiastically.

"Oui. Although I know violin is my passion, and I love it to death, my whole life has been centred around getting these grades, practising, passing that audition, and finally getting a place at the Conservatoire. It has been my goal for as long as I can remember."

Delphine smiled, encouraging her to carry on.

"My father would bring me to the rehearsals, just as you have been doing. He would say; Danielle, you will be up there one day. You have talent among the best. I am thankful for it though. Without their hard work, I would never have got a place at the Conservatoire. But, trying to make your parents can be hard, as you know."

Delphine nodded understandingly. Danielle wasn't sure why she was telling all this to a complete stranger, but Delphine's wide eyes seemed to compel her silently to keep talking.

"Oui," She agreed. The snowflakes continued to fall in a dozy pattern, swirling and falling relentlessly. The dark white sky still seemed so heavy, and the world outside the window seemed so still. "I am supposed to be heading back to UPMC this afternoon, but- pfft. Je veux faire un bonhomme de neige." She giggled. _(I want to make a snowman.)_

Danielle laughed. If Delphine weren't joking she would totally take her up on the offer.

"Oui, you're quite far from your university, aren't you? I didn't realise there was UPMC accomodation here."

Delphine's heart jolted. First lie to go.

"Oh, I don't live in student accommodation any more. I did, for a long time, but now I am studying for my PhD I wanted a bit more space and peace, so my parents paid for me to move out here. It does seem a bit silly, but I don't mind it so much."

"How long have you been living here for?"

"Oh- a couple of months. Since the start of term." She lied. She had moved in only 2 weeks ago. Leekie had promised her a complementary apartment close to her subject if she took up the offer of working alongside him. Delphine now boasted a smart white townhouse, with 2 floors all to herself. It was luxury, but she found it a little lonely.

"Anyway, where are your 'digs'?" She joked, trying desperately to avert Danielle's attention from herself.

"Oh- I still live in student accommodation. The flats, just up behind the college. No PhD money here," She laughed, a little embarrassed, downing the dregs of her latte.

Delphine did the same, and dropped her coffee cup down menacingly, meeting her eyes with a mischievous grin.

"It's not necessary. I used to like the camraderie of the apartments. Who really wants to live on their own, like me, huh? I feel I am getting old, or something." She laughed. "Well, anyway, I think I'll going out for a cigarette. Want to come?"

"Ouais, sure." Danielle said, getting up and tying her scarf tightly around her neck before buttoning up her long black coat.

Delphine pulled a cream wooly hat over her brown hair and shrugged happily, before pushing the door open into the snow. They sheltered under the small roof which hung over the front window, Delphine guarding the flame from her lighter with a cupped hand.

"You smoke? Do you want one?" She asked, waving a cigarette packet in her hand.

"Ah, oui- merci. I never have the money to buy them anymore, so I've had to kick the habit." She laughed. "Life saver."

She took one, and held in between her lips as Delphine lit it for her. She took a long breath in, and felt the warm rush into her lungs. The snowflakes swirling around them didn't seem so cold any more. Delphine blew a long stream in the air, tilting her neck upwards. The cold air stung her eyes and nose, but the relief from the cigarette was stronger than any discomfort she felt.

Danielle checked her watch fleetingly, and noticed that the time had flown so much that she had a lecture in 5 minutes, on the other side of the campus.

"Oh-" She coughed, exhaling small puffs of smoke. "I have a lecture, in cinq minutes."

"Oh! Gosh." Delphine exclaimed, laughing fondly. "Then I guess I will see you tomorrow. I'll come along to rehearsal. It was nice to see you again."

Delphine held her cigarette out of the way and kissed her new friend on each cheek casually.

"Au revoir," Danielle smiled, and brushed a hand past Delphine's arm as she whisked away into the snow, throwing her thick hood over her head. She glanced back - "And thanks for the cigarette."

Delphine smiled and raised a hand in farewell, before leaning back on the window and finishing her cigarette. A black car rolled smoothly down the road across from the cafe. Delphine made sure Danielle had disappeared from her view, and she stamped the smoldering stub on the ground and walked over to the car, sighing out a long stream of smoke as she trudged through the snow.

She glanced around at the silent emptiness of the snowy campus before opening the door and sliding into the back seat. There a bald, mid 50s man was sat looking expectantly at her. As she closed the door, a small flurry of snowflakes followed her, melting instantly on the black leather seat.

"Progress looks to be going well, Delphine. Congratulations."

Delphine smiled. Her efforts were already getting recognised.

"Thank you."

"I tell you, it's amazing every time I see another one. They all have their own lives, all so - oblivious to their true nature. Anyway. Anything to report? Obviously we won't press you too hard for information just yet, but-

"Yes." She nodded eagerly. "She was born and brought up in the 15eme arrondissement, she has been playing violin since she was 4 years old, if I work it out, she is 29, but we already knew that. Her parents are poor, but supportive, and - that's all I know so far." She breathed, looking to Leekie proudly.

He raised his eyebrows in silence, his pen hovering over the files on his lap.

"Well," He chuckled. "This sounds very promising, Cormier. Few monitors have gained this much trust so early on in the process,"

Delphine smiled, nodding a little.

"She is very shy, and...lonely perhaps. But she opens up when I talk to her."

Leekie nodded, interested.

"Intriguing. We haven't had a shy one yet. Good. Well keep doing what you're doing and I'll make sure the institute recognise your hard work."

"Merci," Delphine smiled proudly.

"Okay, you may go. Continue to make progress like this, and you'll have a very bright future at the DYAD."

Delphine laughed a little, pride of her achievements giving her a rush of happiness.

"A bientot, Aldous." She said politely, before opening the car door back into the snow.

Delphine took off her snowy boots by the door out of habit, remembering her pristine childhood home, and hung up her frozen coat on the hat stand. She peeled off the wet scarf from around her neck and freed her hair from the cream woolly hat, before hanging them to dry on a radiator.

Her bare feet met the cold slate tiling of the kitchen floor as she reached for a tall wine glass from an overhead cupboard. She poured herself half a glass of wine from a bottle Leekie had given to her with the house (a wine about $100 more expensive than she would ever even consider buying) and took a sip, grimacing a little at its sharp tang.

She traced a finger around the circular pad of her iPod, and mellow music filled the surround speakers, which played in every room in the house. Grabbing a pile of papers which lay on the counter, she walked into the living room, where she threw them down on the sofa and turned on the gas fire for warmth. She collapsed down onto the cream couch, tucking her legs up to her chest as she took another long sip of the wine. She bit her lip as the warm rush filled her throat, and forced herself to concentrate on the immunology papers she had acquired from the DYAD institute. They were definitely more advanced and intuitive than anything she had seen at UPMC, and interested her greatly. She couldn't believe the level of ingenuity they were working at, and reminded herself that this is why she took the job. She needed it to progress in her career; if she wanted to get anywhere in the world of science, the DYAD was the way to do it. And she had one chance. There was no room for feelings.

**AN: Hey guys, I'm really enjoying writing this fic, hope you are enjoying reading it! Please leave reviews, I really appreciate them and they honestly make my day. Stay tuned for a Christmas chapter sometime soon!**


	4. Chapter 4

This time Danielle recognised the lone figure at the back of the hall. Delphine smiled, and held up a hand in greeting. Danielle smiled back, and continued to play. She felt a little nervous playing, which wasn't a usual occurrence for her, seeing as though usually she didn't even have to think when she played. Now when she studied the music, she could feel Delphine's intent gaze burning into her.

Rehearsal was over, Danielle's solo a little shakier than normal, not that anybody noticed but herself.

"Danielle!" Delphine exclaimed, getting up enthusiastically. "It sounds better every day."

"Hah-merci," Danielle blushed, as her conductor brushed past her.

Danielle thought she had gone, but she seemed to be walking backwards slowly, eyeing Delphine with intrigue. Danielle cringed; she hoped this wouldn't be too awkward.

"Bonjour - who is your friend, Danielle?" She asked brightly.

Danielle coughed slightly.

"Oh, Madame Bereaud, this is Delphine, she lives just across the street. She, uh, wanted to come to listen to our rehearsals."

Delphine held out a hand, which Mme Bereaud took with a strong grip.

"Formidable. Formidable. We _always_ welcome less- artistically talented people into our warm embrace," She continued to shake Delphine's hand vigorously. "...if they do so wish to be enriched by the music of the Conservatoire. For we are, as you will be aware, the best college of music in Europe."

"Oui, I am sure. It sounds great to me. I am a scientist, not a musician, but I can tell good music when I hear it."

"I'm sure you can," Mme Bereaud said, grasping Delphine's hand with both hands now, smiling patronisingly. "Well, as I say, you are welcome to join us for rehearsals if you desire. A bientot, Fournier."

"Ouais- au-revoir." Danielle stuttered.

Delphine pulled a slightly amused face at Danielle as Mme Bereaud strode away, which made her laugh.

"Sorry, about that. She is just very- passionate about what she does."

"I can see that," Delphine laughed. "So, anyway, do you want to go for coffee again? I decided I wanted to try the drink you had yesterday, it smelt delicious."

Danielle's heart dropped. "Ohh, I would, Delphine, but I promised Rory - he runs the student union - that I would supervise music society in his place today. Unless- you want to come along?"

Delphine shrugged her shoulders happily.

"Would that be okay with everyone? I mean, I would love to, if you're sure I wouldn't be in the way." She ventured.

Danielle's face lit up, no one had ever shown this much interest in her before. Though she was a little doubtful that a new face would be immediately welcomed. Some of the music students could be a little...judgemental of outsiders.

"Yes, it will be fine. It's not formal or anything, it's just a bit of fun." She reassured.

Delphine was a little nervous. Sure, it might be a bit of fun for the head of the orchestra of the Conservatoire, but for a 30 year old Immunology student; she wondered whether she would stick out like a sore thumb.

They chatted casually, Delphine trying to suppress her niggling urge to probe information, all the way up to the main building. Danielle swiped her card against the fob on the door handle, and led them inside. Mixed sounds of classical and more comtemporary music flooded the corridors, only for the volume to lift even further as Danielle opened the door. Though she didn't speak much in particular to anybody, everyone knew who she was, and respected her. So she should have been in the best position to introduce a new friend.

"Danielle's here!" One girl shouted, cutting short her cello drone. The volume in the whole room died down, and one boy played a trombone slide, where the note fell flat at the end, as Delphine walked in.

"Who's the noob, Danielle?"

"This is my friend, Delphine." Danielle said, blushing hard.

She wondered why the change in atmosphere as they walked in. Everyone was staring at Delphine. Danielle turned around, and regarded her as if for the first time. She was tall, and slim, and her legs seemed to run forever, and she had beautifully wavy brown hair and large eyes. She suddenly felt very protective over her friend. She could see the predatory looks in some of the boys eyes, and she didn't want Delphine to feel uncomfortable.

Delphine raised a hand in greeting, smiling.

"Allo,"

"So, uh, what can you play?" The trombone boy asked.

"I don't play -" Delphine began.

"Why'd you bring her then Danielle? Eye candy? Cause I won't complain,"

Danielle looked at them all disgustedly. It was obvious they were trying to impress her, or something. Danielle had got used to the arrogance of half the boys in her orchestra, and the ones lower down in the music society were even worse.

"What you got to show to us then?" One joked.

"I don't have to show you anything."

"Will you show _me_ something?" A tall, lanky drummer heckled from the back of the room.

The girls in the room cringed, and reprimanded their classmates, casting Delphine apologetic looks. Instead of ignoring the drummer boy, Delphine strode over to him confidently, and put her hand out.

"Yes, I will."

Shocked, he allowed Delphine to snatch the drum sticks from his hand, and the eyes of the whole room watched as Delphine sat down on the leather stool. She took off her coat and threw it on the ground next to her, exposing her bare arms and a white vest top.

She jumped straight in with an ambitious solo, hitting the snare, then the tomtoms confidently, making a uniquely melodious sound, transforming the drumkit into an instrument, as opposed to a backing tool. She was sick of sweaty teenage boys thinking they were the only ones who could own a drum solo, and all the anger she had built up over her teenage years was let out in that moment, even though she hadn't touched a pair of drumsticks since she started university. She thrashed the hi hat and pounded the kick drum expertly, and her hands flew around the kit like first nature. The solo didn't stop, and Delphine's lips had grown into a thin line, pressing them together hard with determination for wanting to prove everyone wrong. Her playing was unexpected, ingenuitive, original, and the sweat began to run down her temples and glisten over her chest as her arms carried her performance. Her hair bounced around her cheeks and hung over her face, sticking to her forehead with sweat, not that she noticed. She was in the heat of it, and the seconds rolled by, minutes, of awestruck silence, save for Delphine's drum playing.

With the sharp hiss of the cymbal ringing out through the room, Delphine got up from her seat, admiring the gobsmacked faces of everyone in the room, including Danielle. She shrugged on her coat, and made her way through the maze of tables and chairs, casting an unapologetic smile to the drummer at the back, and anyone else who had made a remark. The door slammed shut, and she was gone.

"Woa-ho-ho-hoo," The trumpet player laughed, before he was silenced by Danielle's glare.

"I'm done with this today. You can supervise yourselves." She said, before wrenching open the door and following Delphine quickly down the corridor.

"Delphine!" She exclaimed. "Delphine-"

Delphine turned around as she recognised her friend's voice. The expression on her face was mixed; a little smug, but also hurt.

"That was - amazing. You never told me you played the drums-"

Delphine smiled. "Never thought I still could. It usually takes a little sip of courage-" She laughed. "Haven't done it since I was a teenager."

Danielle's eyebrows shot up. "Well it didn't seem like it. Delphine- I've never seen anyone drum like that-"

"Really?" She said, genuinely surprised. "Well I guess I had more than a sip of courage in the form of male provokation, which I find usually fires me up more than any drink could."

Danielle sighed, and closed her eyes, putting a hand on Delphine's arm. "I'm so sorry about that. They have no idea how arrogant they are. I'm so sorry, I didn't think it would be so bad."

"No, no-" Delphine dismissed. "It's not your fault. At least I got to show them,"

"Yeah, you did." Danielle laughed. "Anyway, why don't we go for that coffee _now_? Hazelnut lattes?"

Delphine smiled gratefully.

"You can read my thoughts," She laughed.

Though Delphine was playing a character, she didn't think their friendship was fake, and Delphine was completely grateful for it. If she hadn't been so lucky, they might never had made friends and none of this would be going so well. It was comforting to have a friend in a new place, and she felt safer with Danielle backing her up.

Delphine drank the hazelnut latte. It was as delicious as it smelt. She sighed. That experience had actually shaken her up a little. She hated feeling vulnerable, and victimized. That just wasn't the way she worked. With all of the respect she had at UPMC, it was easy to forget what it was like to be a woman in a situation such as that.

"Have you got classes today, Danielle?" She asked, an idea striking her.

"No," She smiled. "I'm free!"

"Genial! Then, do you want to come out into town with me?" She asked.

Danielle's smile dropped. She realised how little she even knew Delphine. Her shyness washed over her suddenly, and she receded into herself. Besides, she had absolutely no money to spend on anything that wasn't completely essential.

"I - uh," She stuttered. She couldn't tell Delphine she had no money. Going to the Music Lounge and back was spontaneous enough for her. She had never thought of this. Then she reminded herself that that was what friends did. They actually went places together. She just wasn't used to people wanting her to come along so much. Usually all she would say was 'I'm not sure yet,' and they would forget all about even inviting her. She guessed this time Delphine actually did want her around. "What I meant was, I'm free - from classes, but I - I have a lot of work to finish."

"Oh!" Delphine said, nodding exaggeratedly. "Oh, okay. That's fine."

"Are you sure?"

"No! Yes, I completely understand. I should probably get on with some work too." She smiled. This was the first time Danielle's shyness had posed an actual barrier. And she just couldn't understand it. As a confident person, and scientist, she found Danielle's shy behaviour interesting. Perhaps she was taking this too quickly, people like Danielle preferred slow burns, right? They _had_ only known each other for a few days.

"Okay," Danielle said, blushing. The atmosphere had become a little awkward between them. "Then I'll see you tomorrow? How about we meet here, there's no rehearsal tomorrow."

Delphine smiled. Danielle was desperately trying to make up for the rejection. She was evidently comfortable in and around university, so Delphine thought she would work with that instead. Delphine nodded, running a hand through her short brown hair.

"Yes, see you tomorrow."

AN: I LOVE writing this fic so much. It's soo fun, honestly, and I'm going wild exploring the whole euroclones story and the other characters. I have written 97 pages in Word (and it's still on the go) so it will all be put up at some point! I'm debating renaming this EuroClones: The Saga. :' ) Cause that's what it's turning out to be! PS. Dont forget Delphine has brown hair. I REPEAT brown hair. Like Inch'Allah. Just for all you imagining her as Delphine. I think the blonde thing will come into the story a bit later. Thanks for reading as always chums, hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and if you would drop me a review or two that would be grandly appreciated. Cheers! ~cophineonthescene


	5. Chapter 5

They met again at the Music Lounge. Today the snow had stopped, and the skies were blue and clear. The kind of clear that promised a freezing night. The low sun shone through the window irritably and into their eyes, as they took their usual table.

Delphine span the bottom of the tall glass absent mindedly with her fingers, her shoulders hunched up as she rested her elbows on the table. Danielle was opening up again, and Delphine likened her to a flower that was reluctant to open, but once it did it was the prettiest one. It was just that not many people got to see it. And she was thankful that she could. Leekie had matched them together well; they clicked. Delphine imagined that not everybody could get her to warm up to them in this way.

They spoke of everything, from music to childhood, university to guilty pleasures, Danielle finding out that Delphine sometimes liked to binge out on popcorn and watch Canadian ice hockey matches at crazy o'clock because of time zones. Danielle cracked up as Delphine admitted to her vice - she looked so ashamed of herself.

"Delphine, you are such a scientist. You need to let it go... stay up until 5 am and eat popcorn. That is what students are supposed to do."

"Students aren't supposed to go out and get drunk?" She teased.

"No, that's what everyone _thinks_ we do. But really, we stay _in_ and get drunk. Watching crappy films and international ice hockey."

Delphine chuckled to herself, her eyes going all squinty. She took a long sip from her latté, her eyes still smiling over the glass at her new friend.

"Hey, there's a game tonight," She suggested mischieviously. "Now you know my _terrible_ secret you might as well come and join me...?" She waited milliseconds nervously, was this another step too far? Danielle would probably make up some excuse again.

Danielle laughed, and swallowed a mouthful of warm hazlenut latté. She nodded, following the urge to be spontaneous, and lifted her glass up to clink with Delphine's.

"You're on."

Danielle left Delphine to go to her class, and Delphine walked instinctively back to her house across the snowy campus, the sky still heavy and grey. She seemed to never venture past the concert hall, the music lounge and home, and she sighed as she followed the same old route back to her house. She almost felt like fist pumping the air as she walked away. She had won even more of Danielle's trust. And it _was_ like a prize. Because it was so hard to get. Other friends she had made were too eager, too friendly, sometimes fake-ly so. Overly enthusiastic, perhaps just because she was one of the best students in the university. Or so she figured.

But Delphine was living a double life. The high-flying PhD student at UPMC with the prestigious placement with the DYAD, and this life here, with Danielle. She didn't even need to wonder which one felt more natural, though the answer was ironic. The more natural life was the one she had created, and was maintaining through lies. And constant deception. But there was no other way.

Her friends back at UPMC didn't mean anything to her. Rosie who invited Delphine to every party thrown in existence often only did so to bump up her own reputation. Oh! She got Delphine Cormier to come to my party, that's something to boast about. Delphine _was_, regrettably, one of the most popular people at UPMC, and rather than flaunting it, she hid from it. She much preferred trying to win Danielle's friendship that having people trying to win her own. Then there was Pénélope. She was Delphine's 'meilleur amie toujours', but was known to bitch behind her back as soon as she was gone, and often invite her over for 'study nights', which involved Delphine giving in trying to explain and virtually doing her work for her. And Theo, the boy who would never leave her alone. How many times did she have to tell him she wasn't interested? Yes, he was good looking. But with an ego like that, Delphine couldn't see him as anything but plain ugly. He only wanted her to show off to his less attractive geek friends. But Delphine was sick of people only wanting her because she was pretty, clever, rich, or even famous. Danielle was the only person she had met in years who she had actually had to fight for. And who actually appreciated her friendship. And Delphine knew she was playing a dangerous game. This meant she was invested now. Her heart was on the line, and it could all just explode at any minute. If anything slipped, if she found out, if-

Delphine shook the thoughts from her head, and walked with her shoulders back, and her head up high, in a kind of natural confidence, in a way that nobody had ever knocked her as a child. Comparing this with Danielle's apprehensive shrugged shoulders, one could tell that they were very different. Delphine had had a privileged upbringing, and never questioned whether she would even go to university; but Danielle had been through so much to even get a place. She had fought for where she was now.

A small noise reached Delphine's ears. Small in the way that it came from something small. It was quiet and unsure. She carried on to walk, sure she was just hearing things, until the sound came again. This time it made her curious. She veered off the path to try and find out where it came from, and something caught her eye. Up beside the banks of snow, nestled in close to the wall was a tiny ball of grey fur. It seemed to shiver, and made the same pitiful sound every now and then.

Delphine's face softened. It was a kitten. She crunched through the snow, and approached it slowly, talking in a soft voice. She glanced around quickly. No one was around to see her talking to herself. She stooped down beside it, and reached out to stroke it's back gingerly with the back of her finger. It wasn't looking her way, and she didn't want to startle it. As her hand made contact with its cold, wet body, its head whipped around, eyes wide, jumping to its feet. It was as if it was so cold and ill that it hadn't noticed any part of Delphine's presence whatsoever. Its large eyes protruded from its tiny head; it was skinny and evidently very weak. Delphine smiled, as if to comfort the cat; she was sure she had read that it actually worked; and carefully picked it up. It was so weak that it relented, and she held the tiny body close to her chest, wrapping one side of her coat around it.

She couldn't exactly leave it there. It had no collar, or tag, and certainly didn't look as if it belonged to someone. It was almost dying out there in the ice.

And she had always wanted a pet, ever since she was a child. But her parents had never allowed it, neither would student accomodation. But Leekie would.

She suddenly felt a huge wave of responsibility as she carried the tiny shivering thing across the road and up the path to her house. Some kind of maternal instinct awakened inside of her; she needed to look after this tiny little life. It would die without her. And as a scientist, a medical student, that just wasn't an option. She grimaced a little as she thought of the parallels between this and what she had with Danielle. Except she would look after the kitten and never have to tell it lies. She would simply care for it, with no strings attached. How simple it could be.

Delphine switched the gas fire on, and shielded it with a wire mesh fire guard. She carried the tiny cat upstairs as she grabbed a pile of towels from the bathroom, and carried it back down as she placed them beside the fire. The cat padded slowly over to the towels, and lay down, closing its wide eyes almost immediately. Good. Now it was warm. Delphine stood back, biting her knuckle, before jogging into the kitchen to get some food. She found some meat in the fridge, and decided she would sacrifice it for her new responsibility.

She brought it over on a small plate, placing it down beside the cat's nose. Its nose twitched as it woke from its sleep. Delphine sat on her haunches as she watched the cat eat the meat delicately. This was nothing like how dogs ate, wolfing down food within seconds, but almost frustrating to watch, chewing tiny pieces of meat for what felt like minutes. Delphine shuddered. Without her, it wouldn't have survived the night.

_(ps. when you see this format it means they're texting)_

Danielle

'When should I come over?'

Delphine

'Any time you like,'

Danielle

'Is 11 alright?'

Delphine

'Yes, the game starts at 2, so that is fine,'

Danielle

'Okay, I'll come over at 11 then. A bientot!'

Delphine

'Want me to come and pick you up? It's still snowing.'

Danielle

'I live just across the block, I'll be okay. Thanks though.'

Delphine sighed, and dropped her phone down. She had made an actual friend. A tiny niggling conscience cursed her for trying to gain even more information via something as innocent as this. It wasn't very often someone took this much interest in her obsession with hockey, she noted, and laughed to herself.

Finding out her address could wait. That brought her one step closer to Leekie. But also brought Delphine one step up at the DYAD.

The night crept by, and the relentless flow of snowflakes tumbled past Delphine's window, the black world outside illuminated warmly by the orange streetlamps. Delphine couldn't help but feel guilty and cold as she though of Danielle trudging her way over here in the pitch darkness. Besides, this was the perfect opportunity to find out exactly where she lived. She snatched up her phone.

Delphine

'Danielle please let me come pick you up. It's dark, not to mention freezing. I didn't want a bonhomme de neige that badly.'

_(snowman, remember?)_

Danielle laughed to herself as she read the text, beginning to relent. Well, she _was_ insisting. She threw an extra jumper in her rucksack and texted her back.

Danielle

'If you really don't mind, that would be great. Merci. *snowman emoji*'

Delphine

'Which building do you live in?'

Danielle

'Bluestack, the one next to the music society building.'

Delphine read the screen, and went to the front door to pull on her knee length boots. She checked in on the slumbering cat, and closed the door shut. She would only be a couple of minutes. She zipped her boots up her calves, and shrugged on a black coat, which was still damp from the snow earlier in the day. She locked up and strode carefully down the snowy path to her car. Her watch read 10:56, she noted as she twisted the key in the ignition and beamed on the lights. They illuminated every snowflake which drifted past them.

She drove down the silent streets; the snow seemingly muffling any evidence of life. It was perfectly silent, except for the sound of Delphine's car engine. She parked outside Danielle's block, and turned off the lights. She was waiting around 10 minutes before she decided to go in.

She buzzed through to the telecom.

"Danielle? It's Delphine, are you ready?"

"Salut, desole. I'll be ready in 5. You can come right up if you want, I'll buzz you through. It's number 7 when you get up here."

"Okay," Delphine released the button and moved her mouth away from the speaker. Progress, just like Leekie said.

The door beeped, indicating it was open, and she went through, walking up 2 flights of stairs before she reached the door which read 7. A strange sense of adventure flooded through her veins, but she reminded herself that there was nothing cunning about what she was doing. Danielle had willingly let her in. She knocked, and Danielle opened it, greeting her with a warm smile.

"Come in, come in. I'll be ready in 2 minutes. Just, take a seat if you want." She smiled. She was wearing a baggy brown, questionably fashionable sweater with stripes of orange and teal running up and down it, grey leggings, and odd socks.

Delphine smiled and made her way over to the kitchen table, where a pair of boxers was hanging off the back of one of the chairs.

"Oh, sorry about that. I live with boys. It's horrible." She said, kicking them off the chair.

Danielle disappeared, assuring Delphine that she just needed to get a couple of things. A second later, 2 tall boys in their early 20s swaggered into the room.

"Hey Danielle," The black haired one slurred, leaning on his friend.

"Wait- haha. You're not Danielle," The taller one pointed out. "You're- you're that drummer chick who totally owned Phillippe the other day. Kudos, man."

Delphine smiled, relieved. She thought they were going to offer her more unwanted attention. At least someone had noticed her for more than her attractive appearance for once, and actually appreciated the drum battle, as one sided as it was.

"Merci," She laughed, hanging her head. "Desolé, I just dropped by to pick up Danielle. I'm stealing her for the night, is that okay?"

"Hah, yeah. We can finally have a lad's night in-" The black haired boy laughed.

"Every night is a lad's night in!" Danielle shouted from her bedroom. She came back out, with her bag, grinning.

"That's cause you _are_ one of the lads, Danielle." The taller said.

"Delphine, this is James, the only Australian in the whole university, as he likes to be known."

Delphine got up and offered a hand, which he shook strongly.

"Enchantée." She smiled.

"James, this is Delphine, she's at UPMC but she lives just across the street. And you've seen how she plays the drums." She laughed.

"Yes I have! Enchanté to you too." He nodded.

"And this is Greg. He's a Scottish fiddle player." She teased.

"Hey, just cause I'm Scottish does not mean I play the fiddle, Fournier. I'm as good a violinist as you'll ever be."

He shook Delphine's hand with a wink.

"Keep an eye on that one. She's not as shy as she might seem. Just wait till you get her on the subject of Xena: Warrior Princess. She'll probably want to get into fisticuffs with ye'."

"Oui, whatever, Greg. See you two later. I'll be home tomorrow sometime."

"Woah, woah. Tomorrow? Where y'off?" Greg raised his eyebrows, blinking slowly.

"Delphine's house, not that you need to know." Danielle laughed, pulling on her coat. They were both so drunk.

"Well don't hurry back, mate. You need to get out more anyway. Can't drag ya'out normally."

"Ta gueule, James." She smiled, pushing him as she left through the door. _(shut up)_

She pulled it shut behind Delphine, hearing for the lock to click.

"Still miss the camaraderie of the apartments?" She laughed.

"Actually, yes." Delphine admitted. "They don't seem so bad."

"Nah, they're not." Danielle said fondly. "I mean, they could be worse. But it means I'm more in touch with my masculine side than I would have liked."

Delphine laughed as they walked down the stairs.

"Well we can have a girly night tonight. I have chocolate and wine."

"Sounds great," She grinned.

Delphine glanced back up the stairs. Number 7. Bluestack.

"Woah, nice house." Danielle gaped as she scraped the snow from her boots.

"Thank you," Delphine smiled, locking the door behind them. "But as I say, it is not mine. My parents- they, spoil me." She trailed off. "Here, I'll take your coat... and I'll go and get some drinks."

Danielle ventured into the sitting room as Delphine gestured, and took a seat on a cream fabric sofa, sitting with her hands on her knees a little awkwardly. She remembered how strange it felt to be in a new friend's house; something she hadn't really experienced since college. Her eyes widened as she saw a tiny grey ball on the floor, its grey fur rising up and down regularly. She squinted her eyes as she tried to make out what it was. Delphine scurried back in with glasses of wine and passed one to Danielle. Delphine took a seat at the opposite end of the sofa, her feet tucked in at her side.

She double-took Danielle, and looked at her friend confusedly. Tears were streaming from her eyes, and she was sniffing. Oh God. Would she really have to play agony aunt?

"Danielle?" She asked, putting a hand on her shoulder. "What's wrong?"

Danielle turned her head to Delphine and laughed, drying her red eyes.

"I don't know," She began.

"It's okay, you can tell me," She soothed, furrowing her brow and smiling.

"No," Danielle laughed. "I actually don't know. And by the way, what's that?" She asked, pointing to the grey fluffball on the carpet.

"Oh!" Delphine exclaimed. "Yes, oh gosh, I forgot to mention. That is - my new _chaton_. I found it on my way home. It was nearly dead, the poor thing,"

Danielle raised her eyebrows, her eyes still streaming.

"Really?" She exclaimed.

"Yes, really. And are you sure you're okay? You're still crying." She pressed, concerned.

"Delphine, I'm fine. Maybe- maybe I'm allergic to your cat." She realised.

"Oh! Gosh. That's not so good. I will put it in my room if you want,"

"No, no, it's fine. I couldn't take the fire away from him. I'll be okay." She said, sneezing violently.

"Danielle-"

"No- you need to look after him, if he nearly died today."

"If you're sure."

"M-hm! So anyway, how is university going?"

Delphine swallowed her sip of wine.

"Okay. Immunology not the most joyous thing to study - well, not when you are a parasite expert, like me. The things I have seen- ugh!" She widened her eyes jokingly at Danielle. "What about you?"

"Yeah, I can imagine." She laughed. "Oh, and just more theory stuff. That's my downfall. I can play without even thinking, but get me to talk about it and - " She whistled. "Rien."

Delphine nodded, closing her eyes briefly.

"I just think, just let us play and enjoy the damn music, you know?"

"Not what I would expect from the lead violinist at the Conservatoire." Delphine raised her eyebrows, smirking.

"No, perhaps not. But I'm not like the other perfectionists. They- they might be good players because they study so much. I -"

"You are a good player from pure talent, quoi?" Delphine teased.

"Non!" She laughed. "I just prefer to leave at least some of it unexamined. You know what I mean? - Wait - I'm talking to a scientist. This isn't going to work."

"No, I understand. It - uh, it takes the magic away from things sometimes, when you analyse them too far, oui?"

"Exactement. You _do_ get it. I take it back."

"Hey, I am a drummer too, don't forget. If anyone tried to dissect my talent I wouldn't like it either."

Danielle laughed. "Chhh-hhh," She slapped a hand on Delphine's ankle.

The small cat had begun to wheeze a little in its sleep, and Delphine and Danielle both averted their eyes over to it.

"Is he okay?" Danielle asked.

Delphine got up, and crept over to it, putting two fingers gently on its heart, then over its mouth.

"Yes," She sighed. "I think she's just a little weak."

"Oh, she's a she. Sorry. I've been calling her 'he' all night." Danielle laughed. "Has she got a name?"

Delphine sat cross legged on the floor, and shook her head, pouting a little.

"Nope," She admitted. "I guess I haven't really thought about it."

The cat wheezed again, and twitched a little in its sleep.

"Aw, petit chou," Danielle said, frowning.

"That's it!" Delphine smiled.

"Quoi? - Chou?" Danielle laughed. "Like the vegetable? Does it sound right without 'petit' before it?"

"Okay," Delphine giggled. "How about ChouChou. Because she is such a helpless petit chou, and we will probably call her that all the time anyway."

"I suppose that is less confusing for her than canard, or bibette." She laughed. "Okay, then ChouChou. I like it too."

(petit chou is just a form of endearment, it literally translates to little cabbage(!) but it is just a thing people say. Canard and bibette are terms of endearment too, but they mean duck and deer, so that's what Danielle meant. Okay! French lesson over!)

**Later...**

"Danielle! It's starting!" Delphine bounced up and down excitedly, clutching the remote in her hand. "Oh! The popcorn. J'ai oublié!" _(I forgot!)_

Delphine sprang to her feet and jogged into the kitchen, coming back with a huge bowl full of popcorn, spilling it over the carpet as she ran. ChouChou stirred a little, opening one eye before nodding back off. Delphine plonked back down on the sofa and put the bowl on the cushion in between them. The curtains were drawn now, and the room was cosy with its dim orange light and gas fire. The Montreal Canadiens team skated onto the rink, Delphine's round eyes lighting up excitedly.

She had her hair tied into a low ponytail and was wearing a baggy white t-shirt with a teddy on the front and light pink pyjama bottoms. Danielle's hair poofed out into a curly mass of glossy black hair, and she was wearing red plaid pyjamas. It felt strange to be in a house in the middle of a snowstorm where she was too warm to wear a sweater.

"Are you ready? It's going to start!" Delphine pepped, ploughing through handfuls of popcorn nervously.

Danielle laughed at Delphine's excitement.

"Oui, pret pret pret!" She replied, trying to hide her sleepiness. _(ready)_

Here they were, 2 o'clock in the morning, waiting for a match to start, when they had to be up and out for university in 5 hours. Danielle's eyelids drooped, but she stayed awake for Delphine, and watched the game with as much enthusiasm as she could muster.

"YESSS!" Delphine cried, as the puck went flying into the goal. It missed the goalie's kneepads by a centimetre, and they watched as he fell to the ground in despair.

Danielle laughed, and threw a kernel of popcorn at the side of Delphine's face.

"Hey!" She protested, throwing one back. "We are going to WIN today, I can feel it. Habs are the best. We haven't lost a game all season."

"We?" Danielle teased. "Are you Canadienne now, Delphine?"

Delphine scowled at her jokingly.

"Half, actually. And yes, we. Habs have been the love of my life for years."

"Fair enough," Danielle held her hands up. "So am I the third wheel in this situation?!"

Delphine laughed.

"I guess you are."

It came down to the final minute, and Habs were far, far in the lead. Nevertheless, Delphine sat on about 1cm of cushion, slapping her hands on her knees in anticipation.

"Delphine, there's no way the Americans are gonna score 3 goals in 1 minute."

"Shhhhhhhh they mighttt," She grimaced, waving a hand in the air.

Danielle shook her head, laughing a little deliriously. It was so late, and she was going to get no sleep. But she wouldn't have missed this for the world. It was hilarious seeing this side to Delphine. The glow from the screen flickered on Delphine's face, as the seconds counted down.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Delphine's arms shot in the air, and she looked to Danielle with a look of wild amazement in her eyes.

"We did it!" She dived on her friend sideways, hugging her briefly before jumping off the sofa and fist pumping the air.

"Woah, Delphine. Contain yourself," Danielle laughed, eating the rest of the popcorn in the bowl.

"Yes! Hurricanes here we come!" She whooped.

After Delphine had calmed down and gotten over the victory (half an hour later), she began to drag a sleeping bag downstairs.

"You can sleep on the sofa, I'll take the floor." She smiled, laying it out on the cream carpet.

"No! Delphine, you can't do that. _I'll _sleep on the floor."

Delphine looked at her sternly.

"No, Danielle. I don't mind, honestly." She climbed into the sleeping bag beside the sofa, tossing Danielle a thick wine coloured blanket up. Danielle took it guiltily and spread it out over herself, adjusting the cushion behind her head.

"Are you sure?" She ventured. "Cause I can-"

Delphine nodded, as if closing the debate.

"I want to be close to ChouChou anyway," She smiled, looking over to the tiny cat.

"Okay then, merci. Bonne nuit." She said sleepily.

"Bonne nuit Danielle," She whispered, before laughing a little. "Aaah, nous avons gagné!" (we won)

"J'sais," She murmured, stifling a laugh. "Mon Dieu, Delphine, will you even be able to get any sleep?"

"Je ne crois pas," She giggled, before letting the room fall silent and giving in to her heavy eyes. (I don't believe so)

**AN: Aw, wasn't that nice? Yeah well i told you there would be enough fluff and nice stuff to happen, so i also added a kitten. cause delphine and kittens is just too much to imagine isn't it? Do tell me what you think, whether you enjoyed it, and it will be greatly appreciated! Thanks to everyone who has reviewed it so far, I'm glad you all like the idea! TY! Keep em coming!**


	6. Chapter 6

**17th December**

The light broke in through the thin gap between the curtains, and Delphine blinked her eyes uncomfortably. She could hear Danielle's deep breathing above her and turned to her side to see her friend's left hand flopped over the side of the sofa. She noticed that the skin on her fingertips was shiny and tough, probably from 25 years of playing violin. Her fingers twitched a little in her sleep, and Delphine saw the time on Danielle's watch.

6:48

Danielle's rehearsal started in 12 minutes.

They had only had nearly 4 hours sleep. Delphine stood up, and looked down at Danielle sleeping briefly. This was her subject - she should be running all sorts of tests, getting fingerprints, hair samples - anything would be better than nothing. Leekie would expect so much more from her, and she knew it. Though he would probably also be quite impressed. The DYAD hadn't even expected them to become friends straight away, yet here Danielle was, sleeping on Delphine's sofa. Delphine shook her head. She couldn't exploit her like that. What if she noticed, or woke up? This was going too far. The first thing she would do was to go and make breakfast. She couldn't go wrong there, surely.

"Danielle," She shook her gently. "Danielle, you have 12 minutes to get ready,"

"Mmmrghh," Danielle groaned, her face comedically squashed as she lay on her front.

"I'll go and make breakfast, but you need to get up. I don't want to be blamed for the absence of the head of the orchestra."

"Merde to the head of the orchestra," She mumbled, blinking, her expression as if Delphine's considerate gesture was the most unreasonable thing in the world.

"Come on, get up, Danielle," She smiled, tugging at the blanket.

"Okay, okay," She slurred, throwing one leg off the sofa, and allowing herself to slowly slide off. She sat dejectedly on the floor, rubbing her face with her hands. "I haven't even been asleep, have I?"

Delphine laughed, "Not if unless you count 4 hours as sufficient."

"Ohhh, God. The things I do for you,"

"I believe this is the first," She sniggered.

"Oui, and the last." She joked, smiling weakly, squinting up at Delphine in the sunlit room.

"Whatever," She laughed. "I'll make up for it. I'll make us breakfast, and you will get there in time, okay?"

"Mh-m," Danielle said, throwing her head back on the sofa cushion in exhaustion.

Delphine left her friend to get ready, and headed over to the kitchen. Danielle dragged a comb through her hair, grabbed some toast from Delphine, snatched her violin case and rucksack, kissing Delphine on the cheek twice before leaving.

"Merci, je m'amusais bien hier soir. A bientot," She said fleetingly, before casting a smile over her shoulder and hurrying out of the door.

"A bientot," Delphine shouted back, smiling.

Delphine

'How was rehearsal? Were you late?'

Danielle

'Tiring, and no, only just though!"

Delphine

'Meet you at the music lounge later?'

Danielle

'I'm really sorry Delphine, but I can't make it today. My work's piled up. I'll see you tomorrow after rehearsal, maybe?'

Delphine

'Okay, no problem. A demain.'

Delphine sighed. Perhaps she should lay off Danielle for a while. Take it slow. Besides, it had reminded her of her own pile of Immunology work that she had to focus on if she really wanted her PhD.

Delphine sorted through her Immunology file, and pulled out a huge wad of notes she should make a start on ploughing through . She had only just sat down on the white sofa before she head the front door click. She froze. Maybe Danielle had left something? No, she would have knocked. She suddenly felt sick, and stood up instinctively, clenching her fists. Footsteps creaked on the floorboards outside the living room door, and the blood pounded in her ears. She grabbed the TV remote and pulled the door open quickly, holding it out in front of her. She knew how to whack a snare drum, so she _could_ cause some damage if she wanted to.

Her eyes took a milisecond to recognise Leekie, who was calmly observing the hall way. His eyes widened as he saw Delphine jump out of the living room brandishing a TV remote.

"Aldous?" She breathed, angry. "What are you doing here? I thought- I thought someone was trying to rob me!"

He laughed, and held up his hands in surrender.

"Lower the weapon and maybe we can talk."

"You didn't think I was in, did you? That's why you didn't knock."

"It _is_ technically _my_ house Delphine. I have a key to all my properties. I didn't think you would mind my dropping in."

Delphine shook her head dismissively, though she felt very insecure having him in her home, as much as he owned it.

"No- of course not. Just- knock next time, please. I am still wary of living in this area." She sighed.

"You're right, I'm sorry." He agreed. "I just dropped by to ask how it went last night."

"Last night?" She exclaimed. "How do you - ?" She stopped herself, realsing she shouldn't be this defensive.

Leekie raised his eyebrows. "I have many eyes, Delphine. A little bird told me Danielle stayed here."

Delphine blushed, a little angry that she couldn't have told him herself, in her own time. Plus, she wasn't entirely sure that her inviting Danielle over had had anything to do with the job. It had felt innocent, just friends, nothing to do with the monitoring job. Hadn't it?

"Aren't you going to invite me in?" He asked, taking off his coat.

"Yes, yes. Sorry. Come in." She said, gesturing to the living room. The sofa still had Danielle's blanket strewn over it, several popcorn kernels stuck to the carpet.

"Did she sleep here?" He asked, pointing to the unkempt nature of the couch.

"Yes." Delphine nodded, resting her chin on her knuckles.

"Perhaps I could take some samples..." He trailed off. "You have done well, Delphine."

He took the deep red blanket in his hands and pulled a long black hair from the material, taking a plastic bag from his pocket and putting it inside.

Delphine wanted to protest, but she knew she couldn't. She just watched, feeling more uncomfortable than she probably should. She knew her job description, and she had to stick to it.

"Have you got anything else of use?"

"Yes, I'll just go and get the syringes of her blood." Delphine said dryly.

Leekie laughed slightly, and turned on his heel, taking the stairs up to the first floor. His behaviour violated Delphine's sense of safety and she felt a strange sensation that she had no where to hide, though at that point she had no particular need to. But she had no control over what he did. He was right, this was _his_ house. Delphine didn't even have to contribute any money towards it.

Leekie marched straight into the bathroom, and scanned all of Delphine's beauty products lying on the shelf. She was following up the stairs, but slowly - warily. She didn't like the idea of him going upstairs at all.

Hm. Just as he expected. There were two toothbrushes.

"Which one is hers?" He asked, gesturing to the toothbrushes lying on the sink.

Delphine sighed, biting her lip. Why did Danielle have to forget it?

"The blue one."

He took it and sealed it in a different plastic bag, before squeezing past Delphine in the bathroom doorway and wandering around the first floor. He peered into Delphine's room. The smell of her open perfume bottle hung in the air, and a cold breeze blew through the light blue curtains.

"Hm," He nodded, smiling slightly before making his way back downstairs.

Delphine popped her head into her room to check what exactly it was that he had seen, and jogged down the stairs behind him.

"Okay, Delphine. This should do. We'll run some tests and file the material. This is all working towards knowing more and more about subject 4."

Delphine nodded, looking down at her clasped hands. Subject 4. As if she wasn't human.

"A bientot,"

He took his coat back from the stand and let himself out of the front door.

"Au'voir."

Delphine sighed deeply, and collapsed back onto the sofa, balling the red blanket up in her arms. It still smelt like Danielle's flowery perfume, and a pang of guilt hit her as she realised what had just happened. Now Danielle had no chance of staying under the radar. The DYAD had her samples, which meant they would have actual genetic files on her, concrete information, not just speculations about her DNA.

Delphine hadn't meant to exploit her, but it was inevitable. Nothing escaped Leekie. If she wanted to fully protect Danielle, she would have to leave her alone. But she could never sever contact with her. Not with this job on the line. Not with this friendship on the line.

She decided to go into university to take her mind off things, and headed down the path to her car with her laptop bag swung over one shoulder.

She reached the large building, and swiped her card to open the glass door, heading instinctively to the biology department. Fellow students greeted her in the corridors; she was quite popular, that or somewhat famous. People knew about Delphine. She was one of the best biologists in the university. She headed to the nearest class in progress, which happened to be an Ecology class, volunteering to watch over the 2nd years conducting their practical experiments. She thought she may as well do something helpful with her time, and perhaps she craved doing something omnibenevolent for once.

Delphine picked up a lab coat, and strode around the room, her hands clasped behind her back. She evidently made some students nervous as she stood behind them, observing their actions quietly over their shoulder.

One girl smashed a test tube and sighed, running her hands through her hair in panic. Her cheeks broke out into a bright red blush as people turned around to see who was responsible for the smash. Delphine hurried over and comforted her.

"Hey, it's okay. Accidents happen." She smiled, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Let me help you. What's your hypothesis?"

The girl blushed even harder as she looked at Delphine, who was trying to be so nice to her. This was so embarrassing; she was always so clumsy. She smiled, and flicked through her pages, pointing to a hand written title.

"Um, the effect of genetically modified bacterial insulin on liver cells." She blurted. "But I just keep getting it wrong - my procedure is all messed up. I don't really know if I'm doing it right."

"It's okay, just calm down. We'll go through it." She smiled.

For the next half an hour, Delphine helped the girl to conduct her practical successfully, giving her extra knowledge to help her understanding. Eventually she had got the hang of it, and began to take more care with the measurements. She had even admitted to compromising them when she panicked or ran out of time. Delphine gave the girl her number and told her to ring her if she needed help again.

Leaving the students to their work, Delphine found an empty workbench and pulled out her laptop. She was incredibly stuck on one specific area of her course, and wondered if there was any help on the Universities of Science forum she sometimes used. There was often a lot of information there, and one forum user seemed to be very knowledgeable on a lot of different biological topics. Delphine prayed that they would be able to help her. She still couldn't get her head around the topic, and she needed to have complete understanding by the time her next lecture came around.

She opened up the forum and signed in:

**CormierD**

Can anybody help me with my Biochimie module?

Immediately the light beside the regular user's name illuminated.

**geekmonkey**

Can I get that in English?

Nah, yeah of course. I am at your service ;)

**CormierD**

Sorry, I am French. mdr. I will try to speak more accommodatingly.

**geekmonkey**

Hello CormierD. I am American, so therefore lingually ignorant. But science knows no barriers. Not even language ones. Hopefully. Biochimie, biochemistry. Potato potato right?

**CormierD**

Potato potato? You Americans have some strange phrases. Whatever you say. Biochimie, potato potato.

**geekmonkey**

That's gonna be my new slogan. Now, how can I be of help to you?

Delphine sat and typed away, her fingers finding the keys faster and faster. Students drifted in and out of the room - new faces came and left, but Delphine noticed none of it. This _geekmonkey_ sure was clever. Maybe even as clever as her. And they clicked.

But, Delphine made sure she didn't get sucked into the trap of believing this scientist was as amazing as her text posts. Forums let anybody hide behind the mask they created for themselves. Nevertheless, Delphine didn't let that stop her gushing out paragraphs of Biology speculations and theories, reading those of her new friend, and giving each other feedback. She gained full understanding of her biochemistry module, and learnt a lot more in the process.

**CormierD**

Merci, _geekmonkey_. I have to go now, but perhaps I will speak to you again?

**geekmonkey**

Yeah, sure. Seeya round, _Cormier_.

Delphine smiled, and shut the lid of her laptop. It was strange how a few lines of text from an unknown person over the internet could make you feel so happy. She left the university building and headed to her car, ready to make a start on her work, brimming with her new knowledge.

**AN: If you looked earlier and the page was just a whole loada web code, i have no idea what that was. hopefully now its fluffy fic for your enjoyment? ty to 20fourseven and all the guests for the reviews, I will try to add more french subs for your education/enjoyment! Keep em coming please! I smile for about 5 mins when i read them so TY! OMG COSIMAS IN IT?! yeah. i went there.**


	7. Chapter 7

**18th December**

Delphine squinted one eye, and peered through the microscope, adjusting the small wheels with her fingers. She was studying some new parasite which she had been given to examine, and had stayed back in the lab by herself. The room was empty, cold and white, illuminated with blue light. She didn't hear the door close, or the footsteps approaching, and jumped out of her skin as she heard the voice behind her.

"Fascinating, I'm sure," Leekie smirked as he stood behind her.

"Oh!" Delphine banged her head on the small overhanging shelf, her eyes adjusting to the light. "Aldous, I didn't hear you come in."

"Intentionally. I like to see a woman at work. You are a very dedicated student, Delphine. It's already 10 o'clock, you know. Most students would be glad to see the back of this place by the end of the day."

Delphine smiled slowly. "Yes, well I have been given a new specimen. Look," She gestured to the microscope. Leekie peered through, and nodded, impressed.

"Interesting. I haven't seen a sample like that before. Parasites are fascinating things. But of course - you know that." He smirked. "I hear you are something of an expert."

Delphine laughed. "Yes - I often leave that part out when people ask me what I study. It's not exactly an attractive job description."

"No," Leekie laughed. "Perhaps not."

**"**I am guessing I know why you are here?" She asked.

"Naturally," He said. "Though this time _I _have something to tell _you_."

Delphine furrowed her brow, and shifted in her seat.

"Quoi?" She asked, her voice suddenly sounding small.

"Nothing you don't already know. Just thought I would remind you that you won't be able to leave Paris for Christmas - not that that should be an issue. I understand your family still live in the city?"

Delphine's heart lurched.

"My family are going to Germany to visit my sister. I said I would go." She said quietly. She wasn't entirely sure Leekie _had_ mentioned this before.

Leekie shook his head, and passed a hand over his face.

"Delphine. You must stay close to your subject. That was part of the agreement." He said sternly.

"But Danielle isn't even staying in her accommodation - she thinks she's going home for the holidays." She protested, a small bit of hope still burning in her stomach.

"Then at least you will be in the same city." He sighed. "Delphine, I'm sorry but I can't have you gallivanting off to another country entirely. You are here to _protect_ your subject. Which means she needs to be close to you at all times. Heck, why don't you even see if you can spend Christmas with her? You two are becoming rather close,"

Delphine sighed, and bit her lip.

"I can't do that. Christmas is for families. Plus I couldn't -" She broke off.

"Couldn't what?"

"Rien," She averted her eyes to the floor. What she was going to say was that she couldn't bear to face Danielle's parents, couldn't bear to look them in the eyes and tell lies about her relationship with their daughter. But Leekie didn't need to know that.

"Let your family know. I'm sorry, Delphine, but I thought you would have known this. It was all part of the agreement."

Delphine nodded her head, avoiding his gaze. She bit the insides of her cheeks, and hoped her body language would make Leekie leave.

"Right, well I'll see you sometime soon." He said, making his way to the door. "Keep up the good work."

The door shut, and Delphine threw her face into her hands. She ran her fingers over the back of her head; feeling where her brown hair was still short around the nape of her neck, and the itchy collar of her lab coat. She ruffled her fringe out of frustration, leaving it sticking up at all angles over her forehead.

Christmas alone? She wouldn't stand for that. But she couldn't get her sister to come to Paris instead; they had been planning this trip for months. Plus their parents had never properly seen Juliette's new home, and Paris was just too familiar to be exciting. Even when it _was _the 19eme arrondissement.

Delphine got into her car, and drove home through the blizzard. Thick snowflakes clogged up her windscreen and her lights seemed feeble in the dark. She walked into her cold house, and stood for a moment despairingly, and, taking off her gloves and her shoes, was soon met with the tiny kitten bouncing over to her. She smiled. She still wasn't used to sharing her house, and it sure was nice having someone to welcome her home. ChouChou always miaowed for a solid half hour after Delphine got in, as if complaining about everything she'd been through in the house on her own. Delphine laughed to herself. At least she had some kind of family.

"Come here," She pepped, slinging her bag down and opening her arms.

The kitten padded over, slapping her paws down like a horse in dressage, as if it still wasn't used to walking properly. It jumped into Delphine's arms as she stooped down, and rubbed its head in her neck.

"Bonjour petit chou," She mumbled, burying her face in the kitten's warm fur.

She held its tiny body close to her chest, and carried it into the living room where she lit the fire. She let the cat down onto the pile of towels beside the fire, and went to the kitchen to pour herself a large glass of wine and light a cigarette. Today had been a good day, until she had found out she would be spending Christmas alone. But for one thing, she knew she couldn't ask Danielle for an invitation to spend Christmas with her family; she couldn't use her like that.

Delphine sat back down on the sofa, cigarette resting between two fingers in her left hand, holding a nearly full wine glass in the other. She patted the seat beside her, and the tiny grey kitten jumped up from the towels and scrabbled its way up to sit beside Delphine. Delphine tucked her knees up to her chest, and ChouChou curled up beside her bare feet. Delphine watched the twinkling lights of the Christmas tree, taking long drags from her cigarette, her mind whirring. Could she override Leekie?

**AN: Leekie is so creepy, isnt he? ew i dont like him. *OBSPOILER* lol then i forget hes dead and im a bit sad...idek. Uhm, please review and recommend, if you would guys. If we got it on the tumb people might like it...? idk. my url's cophineonthescene, just for your knowledge. TY! **


	8. Christmas!

**19th December**

Danielle eased her eyes open, and stretched. Another 9am rehearsal. Like every other day of her many years at university. Though now perhaps it was actually worth it. She was at the head of the orchestra, where she had always dreamed of being. But that didn't help her to be less tired or more enthusiastic about getting out of her bed. The house was cold again, and her duvet had become a warm cocoon surrounding her body. She groaned, and rolled over, trying to ignore her alarm clock, which unfortunately read 08:30.

"Oi! Danielle! Do you want a bacon sarnie mate?" Danielle heard James' familiar voice ringing out through the flat.

"Ouais, merci!" She shouted, though it sounded barely comprehensible.

Danielle got out of bed, and walked into the kitchen, her hair tousled, her face just as puffy. James was stood at the hob, frying bacon in a pan, wearing a low vest top and black shorts. The kitchen smelt delicious, and Danielle smiled at her roommate wearily before plonking down onto a chair.

"Morning James," She mumbled.

"G'day," He laughed. "God, Danielle, you look rough."

"Thank you," She scowled, trying to hide a smirk.

"Here," He said, handing her a sandwich on a plate, and a cup of coffee.

"Merci." She said, surprised. "Coffee too? You've outdone yourself."

"Anything for you, Danielle." He teased.

He towered over Danielle anyway, but he looked even huger stood up when she was sitting down. Danielle looked up at him; his blue eyes sparkled, and his scraggy mop of blonde hair fell over his forehead. She often thought he would have better suited being a surfer, not a dancer. He was strongly built, with wide shoulders and muscly arms; it was surprising to see him move so lightly on his feet, but he was one of the best dancers in the college.

"Shut up," She laughed, slapping him on the arm. She never knew with James. He _was_ undeniably handsome, but every girl he met thought that too. And he'd had his fair share of girlfriends. She had undoubtedly fallen for the 'James charm' a long time ago, but that was as far as it went. She preferred to keep it that way. He was more like her big little brother. "Anyway, where's Greg?"

"Still asleep, the silly bugger. Hasn't got a lecture till 2."

Danielle nodded, taking a bite into the sandwich. James always made the best unhealthy food.

"How's your new mate Delphine then?" He began, leaning back on the worktop, opening a can of beer. "About time you got yourself a girl friend, am I right?"

Danielle rolled her eyes and shrugged.

"I suppose you're right." She admitted. "She's...she's nice. What did you think about her?"

James took a sip of his beer, and ran a hand through his straw coloured hair.

"Well she's pretty good looking for a start." He said, nodding. "And she's a damn good drummer an' all."

Danielle laughed, feeling a little protective over Delphine _and_ James.

"Yeah, she is." She agreed.

"Don't you think it's a bit strange though, y'know, she's a science student and she always wants in with our crowd? Like, who else ever does that? Our college has always been kinda, y'know, exclusive."

Danielle furrowed her brow. "I know what you mean. I have often wondered it myself. She is quite mysterious, you know."

James stuck out his bottom lip, interested.

"Go on,"

"Well, she never talks much about herself, and she lives all on her own in a 2 storey townhouse over the road. Says her parents bought her it to give her more space to study. But even on the first day we met, she came to speak to me straight away, as if she knew we were going to be friends."

James nodded, twisting his bare foot around his ankle.

"Maybe she did, I guess. Though you never hear of friends at first sight, do you?" He laughed.

"I suppose not. But I like her, though. She's fun. And I haven't made a friend like that in a while. She actually cares about me, I think."

James nodded, and sighed.

"I'm sure she does, Dani, but you've got to be careful. You've only known her for what, a week? You gotta trust her before you go making assumptions. And - I care about you too, you know."

Danielle was surprised. It must have taken a lot for James to admit that, with the size of his ego. She blushed up to her ears.

"I know," She smiled, trying to hang her hair forward to hide her cheeks. She cringed at herself. She knew she blushed at the slightest nice thing anybody said in her general direction, and the blushing wasn't exactly voluntary.

"Aw, look at your little face," He joked, pointing to her reddened cheeks as she tried to hurry back off to her room.

He scooped her up and threw her over his shoulder; his favourite hobby, and Danielle could never do anything because she was so small. She just laughed, and slapped his back as all the blood rushed to her head. His strong arms kept a tight hold of her legs, though Danielle imagined he handled his dancing partners much more comfortably than this during lifts.

"I'm going to be late, James!" She said, cursing herself for not being able to stop laughing.

"Alright, alright." He said, dropping her down. "Just don't forget who your real friends are, okay?"

"Whatever," She giggled, running off to her room.

Danielle hurried off to rehearsal, jogging past Delphine, who was already sitting in the back row. It was 8:59, and she uttered a breathless "bon matin" to her friend before flying up the stairs to the stage. Mme Bereaud wasn't there yet, although everybody else was seated and ready. She managed to throw off her coat and resin up her bow, sitting down just as her conductor walked onto the stage.

"Bon matin, tout le monde," Mme Bereaud announced, flinging out her arms. "A new piece had been added to the programme – In Dulce Jubilo."

Everybody bubbled with excitement as they found the new sheet music in their folders. Danielle examined her piece; she was excited to play it, though it would be complete sight reading. But she was used to it now, it didn't faze her at all.

"At the last minute request of the Dance department, I might add, so I do apologise for the complete lack of notice," She mumbled. "Just play as best you can,"

Delphine smiled as the sound of Christmas flooded into the concert hall. She imagined medieval Christmas banquets and balls, and excitement filled her veins. Until she was reminded that she would have to spend Christmas by herself. She enjoyed the happier nature of the piece, and swore she saw Danielle smiling to herself as she messed her part up momentarily. The music was noticeably more experimental, seeing as though the musicians had only had about 5 seconds to look over it before playing for the first time.

As the rehearsal ended, Danielle hurried over to Delphine excitedly.

"You are coming to the Christmas concert, can't you?" She asked.

"I wouldn't miss it!" Delphine beamed.

"Though you probably know the whole set as well as we do," She laughed. "Mme Bereaud doesn't seem to mind you sitting there; she probably doesn't find you a threat, as a scientist,"

Delphine laughed.

"Then again she doesn't know about your drumming inclination," Danielle added.

"I suppose she doesn't," She agreed. "I can't wait to see you play in a concert, Danielle. I assume it is much different to these rehearsals."

Danielle nodded.

"Yes, I get much more nervous and much more dressed up. And you're not the only one in the whole crowd," She joked.

"Are your parents coming to see you?" Delphine asked.

"Yes, it will be the first time my parents will have seen me play first violin. I hope my dad doesn't cry," She laughed. "And oh! I know what I can do. I'll get you a front seat!"

"Oh no, Danielle. You don't have to,"

"No no, it's fine. I'm sure Mme Bereaud will let me have an extra one. She gave me 2 for my parents."

Delphine felt a twinge in her stomach. She didn't want to have anything to do with Danielle's parents. Leekie would have her interview them all night if he found out.

"But I couldn't take up a reserved seat!"

"Sure you could, why couldn't you? Please, anyway you _have_ to see James. He's got this big solo and you won't see him as well if you're sat at the back." She persuaded.

"Oh, okay then. If you're really sure." She smiled reluctantly. "And James? He has a dance solo?"

"Yes, the Christmas concert is more of a _celebration_, which, in Mme Bereaud's eyes means a nightmare. It's basically where the orchestra plays music _for_ the other departments to perform over, like the Choir and the Dancers. We do have some solos, but it's nothing like the end of year concert. Then it's all about us," She laughed.

"A lot of clashing personalities, huh?" She guessed.

"Yep." Danielle nodded. "But musicians are just passively aggressive, compared to les arts dramatiques. The clue's in the name. We just dress in black and do what we're told most of the time."

They made their way outside for a cigarette, before Delphine realised she only had one left.

**"**So...do you know what you're doing for Christmas yet? Did your parents confirm it?" Delphine asked, blowing out a stream of smoke. She handed the cigarette to Danielle.

"Yes, they called me last night. They're coming for me on Christmas Eve," She smiled, taking a long drag from the cigarette. "I'm going back home for the holidays."

**"**Oh!" Delphine smiled, trying to hide her disappointment. "That will be nice - for you -"

"What about you? What are you doing?" She asked, handing Delphine the cigarette back.

"My family are coming to stay with me." She said spontaneously, nodding. "My parents are bringing my sister from Germany."

"Really? Oh, that's great, I bet you're excited to see her." She smiled. She had always wanted a sibling, ever since she was little.

"Yes," Delphine said, smoke puffing out as she spoke. "I don't get to see her very much at all,"

"I always wanted a sister," She confessed, looking to Delphine. Delphine's heart skipped. If only she knew the half of it. "You're lucky - my parents couldn't have children of their own. That's why they adopted me."

"You're adopted?" Delphine asked, trying to gauge how much surprise she should show. She obviously knew this anyway, but Danielle didn't know that. To her this was a big step in their friendship.

Danielle nodded, her cheeks reddening a little. "Yep. When I was a baby though, so I don't know any different. My parents are my parents, and that's all I need to know."

Delphine nodded, though her mind was screaming to dig out more information. But she knew she had to be careful not to appear insensitive.

"Was it hard, I mean, when you found out?"

Danielle receded into herself a little, remembering the anger, the confusion, the constant mind battles that kept her awake all night.

"Oui. It was very hard, at first, but once I got used to it, it didn't matter so much. I just decided to stop with the questions. My parents knew nothing about my background anyway."

'Or just chose to tell you nothing,' Delphine thought. She cursed herself for her snide thoughts, and nodded sympathetically.

"Yes, I imagine it must have been confusing. But you are you and that is all that matters, quoi?" She sighed, smiling. Take it one step at a time. She couldn't seem too interested.

"Yeah. That's what I figured too." She smiled gratefully. She suddenly felt a lot lighter, and happier that she had got that off her chest. She hated how she always felt she had to tell people, as if it were the most interesting thing about her. But she was glad Delphine didn't pry like the others did. It had been the hardest at school when the other kids used to make fun of her, and ask her difficult questions when word got out, but she had got used to it now. Adults weren't as mean as her classmates.

**"**Do you want to come out into town with me today? It should be all Christmassy by now. And I need to get out of my house." She laughed.

Danielle nodded, remembering how guilty she had felt last time when she declined Delphine's offer. Besides, this time she felt a lot more comfortable. She was getting closer to Delphine by the day, and she was realising that she did really like her.

"Yes, it should be fun, I'll just go back and get some things and we can go out. I used to love going to see the Christmas tree in the centre."

Delphine smiled, and followed Danielle to the Bluestack apartment block, jogging up the stairs once they got inside. James was lying on the sofa watching TV, in the same clothes that he slept in. By the looks of it he was on his 3rd or 4th can of lager, and it had only just turned 11.

"Hey," He said to Danielle without moving his eyes from the television. He only took notice when he realised that another figure had come through the door. "Oh, and hey Delphine."

**"**Hello James. How are you?" She asked, as Danielle jogged to her room to get her bag and dump her violin case.

"I'm doin' pretty good, mate. How 'bout you?" He asked, eyes twinkling.

Delphine liked the casual way in which he spoke. Even calling her 'mate' felt very charming. Even so, she knew his type.

"I am very well, merci." She smiled. "Are you going back to Australia for Christmas?"

"That I am," He sighed, running a hand through his floppy hair. "Day after the concert. Gotta get the plane for 20 hours. S'worth it, though. Get to see my brother."

Delphine nodded, smiling.

"What about you? Where're you from?" He asked Delphine.

"My family still live in Paris. They're bringing my sister from her university in Germany - to come and stay with me." She lied seamlessly.

James nodded, taking a sip from his can of lager.

"'Tis the season, ey?" He smiled, dimples appearing.

Delphine nodded, and laughed, just as Danielle reappeared.

"We're just going out into town, James." Danielle said, shouldering her bag. "I'll see you later."

"Bye, social bunny. I'll still be here when you get back."

She rolled her eyes.

"I don't doubt it."

James blew her a kiss exaggeratedly, and rested his head back on the arm of the sofa, immediately switching his attention back to the rugby match on TV.

Danielle and Delphine made their way into town, reaching the centre at midday. It was hugely busy, bustling with people laden with bags and boxes. But what did they expect? It was only 5 days to go before the big day, and last minute shopping was always essential for most people. Delphine had a blue scarf wrapped up to her neck, covering where her black coat didn't reach, and a woolly light blue hat pulled over her hair, with two strings attached to pompoms. Danielle thought it looked rather cute. _She_ was wearing her unintentionally over sized duffle coat and denim skirt with purple tights. Well, they were warm.

They walked past a small street band, playing jazzy Christmas songs on various instruments; saxophone, trumpet, drums, and even a double bass. Danielle smiled as she passed them. They had something in common, not that they knew it. She fished into her pocket and threw a coin into the hat on the ground. Well, it was Christmas.

They ate as they walked, and Danielle splashed out on bought two cinnamon coffees for them both. It was freezing, and her fingers were turning almost blue. She pulled her hat down over her ears before digging her hands further in her pockets. It was only 3'oclock, and it was beginning to get dark, the lights suddenly illuminating as if ready to ward away any signs of night. They laughed as they walked, and Danielle realised that she was enjoying herself. She was with her best friend. They ran across the road, Delphine screaming a little as they cut it a bit fine. A taxi flew by, beeping at them loudly, but Delphine just laughed and grabbed onto Danielle's hand.

As they walked along the twinkling streets, Danielle noticed that Delphine's arm was linking hers. She looked up at her friend slowly, and smiled. She noticed the freckle on her nose, and how her whole face was lit up, her smile spanning her whole face. She realised that, aside from her family, there was no one else in the world she cared about more. And she realised she had never felt like that about someone before. They had only been friends for a couple of weeks, but Danielle found herself planning their lives together, irrationally. She didn't ever want Delphine to leave. She couldn't lose her.

Delphine dragged Danielle to the crepe stall; a small wooden shed in the square, its porch strung with fairy lights and bunches of holly. Delphine bought an apple and maple syrup crepe, said it was something to do with her Canadian blood, and Danielle got one dripping with warm chocolate.

It was pitch black now, and the already icy roads got even icier. The sky was dark blue and pink, tiny specked stars dimmed by the lights of the city, and mostly covered by cloud. The clouds had been growing heavier all day, and snow began to fall, slowly at first. Then a swirl of flakes began to torrent down, though it didn't feel so cold. People smiled as they passed by, sharing an unspoken bond that the festivities brought. It was so wonderful having everyone universally happy, excited, having usual life stopped, at least for a day.

They ambled along casually, gravitating unintentionally to Notre Dame. As Parisians, they were almost sour to the beauty of their city, blaming that for the swarms of tourists making their shopping trips that bit more irritating, but now, in the night surrounded by the tiny twinkling lights and the hordes of people singing outside the church, they were filled with pride.

A carol service was going on around the huge Christmas tree, and Danielle and Delphine walked to stand with the crowds. A collective voice could be heard, echoing through the whole city. A sea of heads stood proud against the constant drift of snow, their voices not breaking, their singing unbreakable.

"Minuit Chretien," Delphine whispered, her face softening. (O Holy Night)

'_Minuit, chrétiens, c'est l'heure solennelle_

_Où l'Homme-Dieu descendit jusqu'à nous,_

_Pour effacer la tache originelle,_

_Et de son Père arrêter le courroux._

_Le monde entier tressaille d'espérance,_

_À cette nuit qui lui donne un Sauveur.'_

Danielle looked up to the tall Christmas tree, remembering when her mother and father would bring her as a child. A lump rose in her throat, and she got the strange urge to fall to her knees. In moments like this she remembered her religious upbringing, and the overwhelming sense of faith that she sometimes felt. Tears stung her eyes, and Delphine squeezed her hand, as if she was feeling the same way. Danielle looked up to her friend, who was noticeably taller, and decided that she didn't care if her feelings showed. Tears blinked from her eyes, and she laughed as she cried, causing Delphine to laugh too. She slid her arm around Danielle's shoulders, and began to sing at the top of her voice. She wasn't bad, Danielle thought. For a drummer.

Danielle began to sing too, and gradually the tears stopped. Delphine's body was warm beside her own, and she rested her head on her shoulder. Any shyness she had felt with Delphine was gone. She trusted her, and that was it. They were surrounded by people, couples, families, children sitting on their father's shoulders, grandparents with their children, multiple generations, singing together.

Danielle's eyes were lost in the twinkling lights of the Christmas tree, and she felt safe in Delphine's arms. If there was anything to stir Danielle's emotions, it was music. Which wasn't too helpful when she was actually part of playing an emotive piece. The haunting voices of the choir boys rang out, and a shiver ran down Delphine's back. Yes, she was a scientist, yes she had no reason to need religion, but there was something beautiful which drew her to want to believe. She wanted to be part of this beautiful voice, and she understood Danielle's tears. A feeling of something so incredibly bigger than oneself. And it was overpowering. Having not been brought up religious, Delphine warmed to disregarding science for once, and let herself entertain the idea of a higher being. It was easier to believe when there were so many voices surrounding her, singing their faith.

But the warm feeling felt unearned as she looked down at Danielle. What was she doing to this poor girl? Her best friend? She was betraying her. She was betraying her. But what else could she do?

The song finished, and the service was over. They had only caught the end. The Priest blessed the whole crowd, and eventually the people began to diffuse away. Delphine said nothing, but smiled encouragingly to Danielle, and offered her arm. Danielle linked it, and as they walked around the next street corner, a couple of buskers were jamming along to 'Jingle Bell Rock'. Faced with the jolly music, all deep thoughts were gone from Danielle's head. She was filled with excitement.

"Do you want to go home?" Delphine asked, nudging her gently.

Danielle wrinkled her nose, and nodded.

"Oui, je pense." (yes, i think)

"Let's get a taxi," She said, flagging out her arm as they walked down the street.

They drove through the busy streets, the reflection of the lights riding over the windows row by row. It was a long way to walk back to where they lived, and they had been walking all day, so Danielle relished in being able to lift her feet for the first time.

The taxi dropped them both off at Danielle's apartment, and Danielle insisted to pay for them both.

"It's the least I can do." She said solemnly, before handing the taxi driver the money, and climbing out.

"The least you can do for what?" Delphine protested as the cab drove away.

"For today. Thank you. I have had the best time." She said, hesitantly going to hug her arms around Delphine's neck, pressing herself to her tiptoes.

"Hey, hey." She laughed. "You're welcome, but I didn't do anything. I was just there."

"Exactly," She smiled, almost sadly. "Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow. Are you okay walking home?"

"Of course," Delphine pepped, holding out her fists, and walking away. "Bye," She said over her shoulder.

"Bye," Danielle waved, punching in the number to open her apartment door. She felt elated, buzzing, and ran up the steep steps to her flat two at a time. She flung open the door, red-cheeked, to James lying on the sofa, asleep, the TV image flickering on his face. On the floor was an empty packet of Lamingtons and 5 crushed cans of lager.

"James," She whispered, shaking him gently.

"Whu?" He mumbled.

"James, you're asleep on the couch." She said, sighing.

"So what?" He slurred, barely conscious.

"Ah, n'importe quoi." She said, leaving him to go to her room. (it doesnt matter)

She lay on her bed, 'Minuit Chretien' going around her head over and over. She stared up at the ceiling, just smiling thinking about the day, before she had an idea. She sprang from her bed and pulled out her violin from its case, carefully rubbing the bow against the resin, and fine tuning the little screws.

Trial and error was a wonderful thing, but after a few goes, she had it down. Danielle sat in the bay window of her bedroom, and played her heart out, watching the snow drift silently.

"Would ya cut it out, Dani? I'm tryin to sleep here, mate," James shouted wearily.

Danielle laughed, and bit her lip.

"Yeah, sorry,"

**AN: i wrote this when i was young and festive. like a month ago. now it seems cruel and sad for Christmas, cause i miss it :( but i hope you like it. this is like the fluffiest thing ever lol i loved writing it. i was like omg yeh they can do that then they can go there! omg yay like who says that i dont do this for myself. you guys are just an added bonus (a really nice bonus tho). if you liked it, review and stuff! and like spread it aboot, i would appreciate that. cheerssss **


	9. Chapter 9

"We're off now, Danielle." James called, their bags piled up by the door.

Danielle came from her room slowly, and stood in front of them, her face fallen.

"I'm going to miss you two," She said.

"Gonna miss you too, frizz 'ed." Greg smiled, ruffling her hair. Danielle went forward to hug him; he picked her off the floor as he hugged her back.

"Seeya later mate," James said, before she hugged him tightly. Danielle swallowed a lump in her throat. She really was going to miss them.

"Did you both get your presents?"

"Yeah," They said. "Did you?"

She nodded, and gestured to the 2 presents beneath their little tree.

Greg unlocked the door, and picked up his bags, dropping his shoulders and sighing.

"Well, I guess we'd better get going,"

Danielle nodded, and held the door open for them both as they lugged their bags out of the flat.

"Have a lovely Christmas, and just - travel safely, okay?"

"Sure thing, kidda," James said with a wink of an eye. He tipped two fingers in salute and headed off down the stairs.

"You too Danielle," Greg smiled, before following his friend.

Danielle stood at the top of the stairs, watching until they had left through the door.

'Just thought to tell you that this week is the perfect time to really get close to your subject. No lessons, no commitments, and both her flatmates have gone home for Christmas, so she will presumably want to spend more time with you. Don't disappoint me.

Aldous.'

Delphine glanced down at her phone, and sighed.

"What do _you_ think about that?" She asked the small cat, who pawed clumsily at the phone. "I don't like it anymore, but what choice do I have?"

She took her hand away from stroking its soft grey fur to text Danielle. ChouChou snapped her head to Delphine, offended.

'Delphine

Do you want to go to the Music Lounge? Or you can come over?'

Danielle jogged back to her room where she heard her phone beeping.

'Danielle

Anything! I don't mind'

'Delphine

Do you want me to come and walk you over to mine? We can watch a film or something'

'Danielle

Thanks, but its fine. I'll be there in 20 mins?'

'Delphine

Okay, see you soon'

Delphine sighed. She had given Leekie all the information he needed; Danielle's parents names, bits of their backgrounds, whether they were married or not, etc. He was trying to find out what happened to them, how they came to be in a position where they could illegally adopt a clone as their child, whether they actually knew she _was_ a clone. As a result, Delphine didn't have much to spy on anymore; she was just supposed to look after her. But not as a friend, as a scientific subject.

"What do you want to watch? I just got Netflix."

"I don't mind, whatever you want," She smiled sadly.

"Are you okay, Danielle?"

"Hah," She laughed. "James and Greg both just left for home, so it feels a little strange." She admitted.

"Well, why don't we watch something to cheer you up? What was that show Greg mentioned the first time I met him? One you really like?"

Danielle blushed, and laughed a little.

"You mean Xena?"

"Ahh, yes. That was it. Do you want to introduce me?" She jibed.

"Really? You want to watch Xena?" She asked. "Okay then. Don't expect too much from the quality, but the characters are the best ever. I used to watch it as a kid."

Delphine typed it into Netflix, and got Danielle to choose an episode. She insisted that they start from the very beginning: the first episode of the series, named Sins Of The Past.

At first Delphine laughed cynically at the ridiculous gravity-defying fight moves the main character kept using, but after a while she got completely engrossed. She loved the idea of a female warrior who had absolutely no bother in defeating huge groups of men.

The titles rolled past, and Delphine stayed silent for a few moments.

"What's wrong? Oh, you didn't like it did you? I mean, the first series is a bit-"

"Do you want to watch the next one?" Delphine asked suddenly.

Danielle furrowed her brow, her expression incredulous.

"Really?"

Delphine nodded.

Danielle was shocked; nobody she had ever met had ever got past one episode with her. But they would never give it a chance. As soon as you saw past the 90s effects, it was a pretty damn good show.

Hours passed, and they had watched almost half of the first series. Danielle watched Delphine incredulously; this was getting close to a Xena marathon. After 5 hours and 6 episodes, Danielle supposed she'd better be off home. Not that she wanted to end the glorious TV binge, but she didn't want to overstay her welcome. But it was strange, going to Delphine's house. She never felt uncomfortable; she always felt as if Delphine really wanted her to stay, and was disappointed when she left. But even so, she liked the comfort of her own home, and her own bed, and her eyes were getting droopy.

"I'd better be off, Delphine," Danielle smiled. "Thanks for today, though. I never thought I'd meet anyone who actually liked this show!"

Delphine shook her head. "I don't know why, but I am gripped. I love the relationship between Xena and – oh what's her name," She furrowed her brow.

"Gabrielle," Danielle laughed.

"Yes, between Xena and Gabrielle. It's just so - strong, I don't know -"

Danielle laughed. And she was only up to Season 1.

"I know. And it gets way better, too. I can't wait to watch more - I mean if you want to -"

"Yes, I really do." She laughed. "Okay then, I'll walk you home. I really need to get off this sofa."

They walked along in the snow, Delphine bombarding Danielle with all kinds of questions about her new favourite show. Danielle told her she couldn't answer most of them, that she would have to wait and watch more to find out. She enjoyed Delphine's frustrated laughs and pleading, but got her to promise that she wouldn't watch more without her. To Danielle's dismay, they came to stop outside her apartment.

"Bye, Delphine. I'll see you soon." She kissed her on each cheek, and rested her hand on her arm.

"Bye,"

**AN: Lol true friendship is someone who will endure watching XWP with you. Follow and review if you would kind fellows. till next time**


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: Btdubbs right you ****_have_**** to listen to 'Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas' when you read this one, it makes it so much sadder. hahah plz do though i wrote it listening to it and i was like :'( omg delphine**

**Christmas Eve**

"Danielle?" Delphine said as the line picked up.

"Delphine!"

"I just wanted to say -" She breathed in. "Merry Christmas."

**"**Joyeaux Noel to you too, mon amie. I hope you are happy and warm." She laughed.

"Yes," Delphine smiled sadly, looking around her warmly lit bedroom. She stretched out her legs on the bed and glanced up at her golden fairy lights. "I am."

Danielle sighed.

"Are your parents with you yet?" Delphine asked.

"Y- oh no, well not yet. They said they are on their way, so it should be any minute now. Then I get to go home!"

"Genial! I hope you have a wonderful time," Delphine said, twirling her fingers in her hair.

"You're okay, aren't you Delphine?" Danielle said quietly, after a momentary silence. "You're with family?"

"Yes, I'm fine, I'm fine." Delphine said, not answering her second question. The only 2 living beings in the house occupied one room, and one of them was a cat.

"Okay, well have a wonderful Christmas, ma cherie." She said happily. "I'll see you next year, I suppose!"

Delphine felt a pang of sadness. Would it really be that long? Sure, 'next year' sounded longer than it really was, but would she really be alone all throughout Christmas? Her parents were in Germany visiting her little sister, and Leekie had told her she must stay in Paris. That was part of the deal, apparently. Her family couldn't understand why she wouldn't spend Christmas with them.

"Yes, bon année." She said. "Bisous,"

"Bisous,"

Delphine hung up, moments before tears sprang from her eyes. She thought of her family, Christmas Eve as a child, the pure excitement and magic of the whole season. And they were thousands of miles away, an incomplete family, and she couldn't even tell them why she couldn't spend Christmas with them. She sat glumly on her bed, in Christmas pyjamas, hot tears rolling down her cheeks. Even the gold fairy lights and the small pink Christmas tree in her bedroom seemed to sicken her. Tomorrow she would spend her first ever Christmas alone. What was that all about? She was only 30, why should she have to? She had thought of disobeying Leekie and running off to Germany, but she knew her job wouldn't be waiting for her when she got back. Or her house. And she couldn't risk losing Danielle.

It was 8:00pm, and Delphine watched 'A Wonderful Life', tucked up in bed, biting back the tears. 15 years ago she would have been laying out her stocking and preparing the food for Santa with Juliette, her sister, who was 5 years younger. Delphine had appreciated the age gap as an excuse to drag out the whole Pere Noel thing. She still loved the magic of it all; despite being a cynical scientist, she was a hopeless romantic. Not that she dared to admit to the French stereotype.

Towards the end of the film, Delphine heard a knock at the door. It was now just after 10, and the snow was falling thick and fast. Delphine padded down the stairs in her pyjamas, opening the door warily.

Danielle stood on the doorstep, smiling a little sadly. Her hair was covered in snow, and her cheeks were red and bitten by the cold.

"Come in, you look freezing!" Delphine said, ushering her inside. "What happened? Why aren't you at home with your parents?"

"They're not coming," Danielle sighed, her chin trembling.

"Oh, petit chou," Delphine said, gesturing for her to take her wet coat off. She pulled it off her arms and hung it up, smiling sympathetically.

"They've had to go and stay with my grandparents, apparently my Grandmother isn't doing too well."

Delphine frowned, and pulled her into a hug.

"It's okay, it's okay. You can stay with me tonight."

"No, Delphine. I couldn't intrude, I just didn't know where else to go. Aren't your family here?"

Delphine pulled out, and regarded Danielle guiltily for a moment before speaking.

"My family were never coming. They are in Germany with my sister. I just didn't want you to feel bad for me."

Danielle sighed, and shook her head.

"Delphine. You don't have to lie to me! I can deal with the truth. You could have come to stay with us, my parents would have loved to have one of my friends round." She smiled. "Well it doesn't matter much anyway now I suppose."

Delphine shook her head, and held Danielle by the shoulders. "We'll be each other's family this year!" She laughed, and steered her upstairs. "Go on, you know where everything is."

Danielle walked up the stairs, looking back at Delphine and shaking her head.

"You're the best friend ever, you know that?" She smiled, heading to the spare room, though she was still a little hurt that Delphine had lied to her all this time.

Delphine laughed, and hung her head, the lump in her throat returning a little. She went to sit back on top of her bed, and watched the last minutes of the film while Danielle got comfortable. This time she watched the film and relished in the happy feel of the festive-ness. It was beginning to look a lot more like Christmas.

Delphine switched on the lights in the living room, and the ones on the Christmas tree, and sat onto the sofa for ChouChou to jump up onto her knee. Danielle came back down in her pyjamas, clutching a long, wrapped object. It was wrapped in red and gold paper, with a red bow tied around it. Delphine smiled, and patted the sofa next to her. She had a bottle of sherry and two glasses on the table beside her, and poured them out as carefully as she could with a cat on her lap.

"This is for you," Danielle said shyly, handing Delphine the package.

Delphine's face softened, her eyes growing wider. Danielle was worried. She looked genuinely moved.

"Thank you so much," She said quietly.

"Do you want to open it now, or-"

"No," She laughed. "Tomorrow. We have to wait till tomorrow."

"Okay then," She smiled, heading over to the Christmas tree. She tried to hide her surprise when she found that there was nothing else beneath it.

"Oh, and I have a little something for ChouChou," She said, producing a small package. As she put it down, the cat bounced over, and batted it about with a paw curiously.

"ChouChou!" Delphine reprimanded, laughing. "You have to wait until Christmas. Oh! And I have one for you too," She said, hurrying upstairs excitedly to retrieve it. She handed Danielle a small wrapped box and a larger, thin parcel.

Danielle sighed and smiled, a little embarrassed that she only had one present for Delphine.

"Merci," She laughed, holding back the tears. After everything she had been through tonight, this Christmas wasn't turning out so bad.

She took the presents, and Delphine watched excitedly as she held them for a while, wondering what they could be. She then put them under the tree beside her own poorly-in-comparison present for Delphine.

They sat up until just before 12; Delphine said it was a tradition of hers that she went to bed before it turned Christmas Day. They kissed each other on the cheek twice.

"Bonne nuit, et des bonnes reves!" She said brightly, and hurried up the stairs.

"Et toi, Delphine," She smiled, and made her way to the spare room, opposite from Delphine's. She climbed into bed, watching the constant downfall of snowflakes through the tiny gap in the curtains, and closed her eyes, the small flurry of excitement still causing her to stay awake for longer than usual.

**AN: Sorry the Crimbo chapters like exactly a month too late... oh well. Plz review if you liked it! Merci!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Christmas!**

The next morning, Danielle checked her watch. 9 am! The longest she had ever slept in. She came slowly into Delphine's room, hoping she was awake. Delphine stirred as she heard the floorboards creaking outside her bedroom, and opened her eyes slowly. For a moment she forgot what day it was, forgot she wasn't alone in her house, until she noticed Danielle in the doorway. Delphine lay in her bed, her face lighting up as she saw Danielle. Danielle couldn't believe Delphine would have spent Christmas alone if her plans hadn't fallen through.

"Joyeaux Noel!" She said happily, bounding over to her friend. Delphine pulled Danielle onto the bed and enveloped her in a strong hug.

"Joyeaux Noel to you too," She laughed. "Shall we go downstairs?"

Danielle said nothing, but nodded her head vigorously. They jumped up, and ran down the stairs, and into the living room, where the three presents for each other lay, and two for ChouChou. Delphine slotted a Christmas CD into the CD player and turned it up quietly. Old, familiar Christmas songs filled the room; songs both had known the words to before they could even understand English, and the music immediately warmed up the cold room.

Delphine tossed the small packages over to ChouChou, and they watched as she tore the paper off, her hunting and killing instincts definitely active, as she ripped and clawed her way through. Inside, from Danielle, was a small catnip mouse, and she didn't let it out of her sight all day. The present from Delphine was a small bell, and she attached it to the cat's thin collar.

Danielle picked up the long, thin present, and handed it to Delphine. They both sat cross legged beside the tree, reminding Delphine of being a child again. Danielle watched nervously as Delphine ripped off the paper. Her eyes widened, and a smile spread out over her whole face. She pulled out the smooth, light wooden drumsticks, and shook her head fondly at Danielle.

"You are the best," She whispered, kissing her on the cheek, with an exaggerated 'mwa'!

Danielle blushed. "I'm glad you like them. I'm sorry it's not much, I -"

"They're brilliant, Danielle." She said solemnly. "I love them," She beamed, spinning them about in her hands. She was genuinely touched, and something about Danielle's present felt a lot more heartfelt than anything any other friend had ever gotten her before. Like she'd really thought about it.

"Oh! Here, these are for you," She remembered, handing Danielle the small box, and the larger, thin parcel.

Danielle tore off the paper and found a small jewellery box. She looked up at Delphine warily before opening it. Inside was a beautiful silver necklace. It must have been _very _expensive. She didn't even dare to wonder how expensive.

"Delphine," She whispered incredulously. "I can't accept _this_,"

Delphine shook her head, and pressed the box into Danielle's hands.

"Of course you can. You are my best friend, you deserve it."

Danielle blushed. Delphine had spent far too much money on her. Hundreds more than she had spent on the drum sticks. But Danielle had been saving up for weeks to buy those, and she had been so proud that she could finally afford them.

Then she remembered there were two presents.

She opened the next one, and pulled out a full score of her favourite suite - Orchestral Suite No. 2 - Bach. The joy she felt inside was more than she expressed on her face. These things cost a bomb. She instantly felt extremely guilty.

"What is it? Is it the wrong one? Oh- I knew I should have checked-"

"No-" Danielle interjected. "It's perfect. It's - it's my favourite. But Delphine - you must have spent-"

Delphine stopped her.

"Hey, hey. Money does not matter," She assured her, but Danielle could not comprehend such an attitude. Everything in her life was based around whether she would have enough money to do this, or that, sometimes missing out on great opportunities because she simply didn't have the money. And here she was, getting expensive gifts from her new scientist friend. Who knew.

"Thank you, so much." She beamed, almost crying. "These are the nicest presents anyone has ever got me."

Delphine grinned.

"I am glad," She said genuinely, and got to her feet. "Hey, watch this," She said mischievously, as she span the drum sticks expertly in her fingers, different directions in both hands. When she was done, she threw them both in the air and caught them effortlessly. "God I haven't done that in years."

Danielle smiled. She was glad Delphine didn't find her present inadequate. And ChouChou certainly didn't. She was acting like some kind of lion, the way she was guarding that catnip mouse. She batted it and chewed at it all day, and didn't get under their feet once. Delphine thought it was ingenious.

Danielle walked down the stairs, enjoying the glamorous feel of wearing a sparkly dress and makeup, seeing as though she was never one to wear it daily. She almost skipped down the stairs, feeling lighter in her floaty dark blue dress and black tights. She had saved up to buy it, wanting Christmas with her parents to feel really special, and had decided there was no point wasting the opportunity to wear it. She had pinned back the front curls of hair away from her face with some small flower hair grips she found in her bag.

Already the warm smell of food filled the house, and ChouChou positioned herself beside the oven, flicking her tail calculatingly. Delphine had a Santa hat pulled over her hair, and was wearing a red apron over her more casual outfit.

"Oh! Danielle, you look - beautiful," She smiled, pan in hand.

"Thank you," She said, blushing to a deep red, feeling rather over-dressed. "But I thought you said you were wearing a dress too!"

"I will later. I just - decided this was best seeing as though I am cooking," She smiled.

"Okay then, I'll take over and you can go and get changed." She suggested.

"No, no, it's okay, honestly-"

"Delphine. I want to help, it's the least I can do." She insisted, taking the pan_. "_Trust me, I basically run the kitchen at Christmas in my house."

"Thank you," She said, relenting and handing Danielle the apron. "But it's the least _I_ can do anyway. Without you I would be having a bit of a _nul _Christmas,"

Danielle shook her head, and smiled, a little confused.

"I can't believe you would have let me leave you on your own." She sighed.

Delphine shrugged and laughed, and made her way to the stairs.

Danielle watched her back, feeling a little strange. She knew it was just a little thing, and Delphine had hidden the truth to spare her feeling so bad, but Delphine had still lied to her. And from the way she shrugged her shoulders, she didn't think it mattered. Danielle wasn't sure whether she was being over-judgmental, but she herself couldn't lie for toffee, she usually got too guilty and told the truth or blushed so much it was obvious. But she remembered the day they discussed their plans. Delphine had told her without batting an eyelid that her parents were coming home to stay for a couple of days. And Danielle hadn't questioned it. Why would she? A small pang of uneasiness settled in her stomach. Could she really trust Delphine?

A knock at the door. Danielle frowned, and left the pan on the hob, making her way to the door.

"Delphine?" She shouted up the stairs.

There was no answer, she was probably still in the shower. Danielle thought she may as well answer the door. It would only be one of Delphine's friends, or some relation coming to wish her merry Christmas. She answered the door to an old-ish man, in his late fifties, holding a bottle of champagne.

"Oh!" He said, shock taking over his face. He didn't speak for a few seconds. "Hello. I am, a friend of Delphine's. I just popped over to give my best." He gestured to the bottle.

"I'm Danielle," She replied, wondering what she was supposed to do now. "I'm just staying with Delphine for Christmas. I'm a friend of hers too."

"Aldous?" Delphine said, jogging down the stairs in her dressing gown, her hair still wet. She walked to stand in front of Danielle. She seemed to be pushing her to stand behind her, as if shielding her from something.

"Well, aren't you going to invite me in?" He asked, holding out the bottle.

"Yes, yes of course." She said, jerking her head towards the kitchen. "Take a seat in there, I'll be back down in a few minutes, just let me get dressed. Danielle, can you come with me for a second? I can't find the hairdryer."

Danielle thought it was strange to leave their guest alone while both of them disappeared, but followed her anyway. There had been a sudden change in Delphine's behaviour, and Danielle got the sense that she wasn't totally comfortable.

"Isn't it in your room? I think I saw it this morning." Danielle asked confusedly.

Delphine grabbed Danielle's wrist and pulled her into her bedroom.

"Danielle, that man down there - I don't want him here. He is my - professor. I told him I was having a quiet Christmas and obviously he thought that was an invitation."

Danielle pulled a face of horror.

"Ew, really? Mon Dieu, I'm so sorry for letting him in."

"No, no, it's okay, we couldn't have shut him out. Just - don't tell him anything about yourself, okay? He's very nosy. I don't want him to know everything about you - I mean, because you're my friend and I don't like it when people pry -"

Danielle laughed, and put a hand on Delphine's shoulder. Her hair was dripping wet, and she smelt of shampoo and strawberries.

"It's okay. I'll tell him nothing." She whispered, laughing.

Delphine took her hand, and nodded determinedly.

"Thanks. Okay, I'll only be 5 minutes, but can you stay up here? If we are not too hospitable he might be more inclined to leave early..." She smirked.

"Are you sure?" Danielle felt a little guilty. He was only trying to be nice. Still, having your professor in your house was a little...weird.

"Yes," Delphine widened her eyes, and held out a hand as if to tell her to stay.

"Okay then. I'll just be in my room," She laughed, shaking her head.

After about 8 minutes, Delphine reappeared, and walked quietly into Danielle's room. Her brown hair was blown dry, and was styled in light finger-waves on top of her head. She was wearing a grey, 20's style dress with thin silver beads threaded in an intricate pattern. It was more shapeless than not, in true flapper girl style, but glamorously flattered her figure.

"You look really nice, Delphine." Danielle said truthfully. "I love your dress,"

Delphine bit her lip.

"Thank you, ma cherie! I love yours too. You suit that colour, you really do." She beamed. "Now let us go and deal with the problem downstairs..." She shuddered jokingly.

They all took a seat around the kitchen table, and sat in Delphine's stubborn silence for a moment.

"Sorry to just drop round like this, but I thought you were...on your own." He admitted, his looks lingering on Danielle.

"Yes, well, Danielle's plans changed, and she couldn't go home for Christmas, so I took her in for the night." She smiled.

Leekie nodded.

"Your family got tied up, Danielle?"

"Yes," Delphine interrupted.

Delphine took a drag on her cigarette, and offered one to Danielle, partly because she knew Leekie wouldn't like it. Danielle took one, and lit it with the lighter on the table, breathing out puffs of smoke into the stuffy kitchen. Delphine could see Leekie wincing as he watched his own subject defacing herself.

"Still...smoking, Delphine?" He stuttered.

"Oui," She answered simply.

"It doesn't worry you that it's bad for your health? You're a scientist, you should know better. And I bet she's leading you astray too, huh?" He half-joked to Danielle.

"No," She shook her head. "I have been smoking since I was 16."

Leekie screamed internally. What that must be doing to her already vulnerable lungs, he didn't dare to wonder. The stupid French and their stubborn habits.

**"**Where are your family, Aldous? What are your plans for Christmas?" Delphine hinted.

"My brother still lives in America with his family, and I wasn't planning on leaving this year. I was going to have a...quiet one." He said. Delphine was filled with terror. Had part of his plan been to drop in like this to spend Christmas with her?!

"Well, it was nice of you to drop in, Aldous, but I'm afraid we're rather busy." She said, standing up, and walking towards the door.

He got up dejectedly, and followed.

"Well, it was nice to meet you, Danielle." He said, staring into her eyes as he shook her hand.

"You too." She smiled unsurely.

"Merry Christmas, Delphine." He said, taking her hand and kissing her on the cheek.

**"**Ouais. Et toi." She said, opening the door.

He left hesitantly as if hoping she would change her mind any minute and invite him back in. There wouldn't be many better opportunities than this to speak with the clone sans suspicion. Anyway, he knew Delphine was stubborn, and probably wanted to do things her way. He had heard the subject was very shy, so perhaps it would be best to leave the job to someone she trusted.

Delphine shut the door behind him, and sighed, running her hands through her hair.

"Good. Now we can get on with our day!" She said, just as ChouChou padded up to her, catnip mouse in her mouth. "Is that for me?" She asked, as it was dropped at her feet. She picked it up and teased her with it, dangling it around ChouChou's nose until she got too frustrated and leapt for it. They both watched, and laughed as the tiny cat acted like a lion, trying to maul the inanimate mouse.

"I'm glad she likes it," Danielle laughed.

They cooked their dinner together, and eventually sat down to eat it, their plates piled way high. Delphine had said that the chestnuts with the turkey was a family tradition, and Danielle made the 'buche de Noel', as she apparently did every year. French Tradition would have normally dictated that they eat after midnight on Christmas Eve, but Delphine had lost sight of that a little without her family.

"It's strange eating now," Danielle laughed.

"I know, normally I am falling asleep and un peu delirious from tiredness mixed with wine." She grinned. "But we can still get delirious from wine on its own," She laughed, topping up both their glasses to the brim.

"Santé!" They both said, as they clinked their glasses together, not breaking eye contact, as was said to be lucky.

It was dark outside now, and they sat and talked around the table for hours, eating constantly. Danielle brought out the Yule log that she made, and Delphine protested that she couldn't eat another thing, before contradicting herself entirely.

Later they both slumped off to the living room and collapsed on the sofa, lying with their legs parallel to each other.

"Mon dieu," Delphine sighed. "Why do we do this to ourselves?"

"Parce que c'est Noel!" Danielle said, prodding her shoulder with her foot.

Delphine laughed, and nudged her back. "Oui, c'est vrai. That's all the reason we need, uh?"

At that moment, Danielle's phone rang, and she reached backwards over the arm of the sofa to pick it from the table. She gestured to Delphine that she would be 1 minute.

"Bonjour, maman!" She said brightly. "Joyeaux Noel a toi aussi! How is Grandmere?"

Delphine tried not to listen, but hoped they wouldn't' have bad news. Danielle's face fell a little, but she didn't seem surprised.

"Tell her I miss her and that I wish I could be there." She said solemnly, before sighing and laughing a little. "Yes, and I miss you too, maman."

Delphine smiled fondly, and hung her head, pretending she couldn't hear.

"Oui, I am staying with my friend." She smiled at Delphine, blushing a little. "You know, Delphine. The one I told you about,"

Delphine laughed, and Danielle nudged her again with her foot, a little more aggressively.

"Yes, her parents couldn't make it either, so it's just us." She mumbled. "Oui. Oui. Oh go on then. Papa! Joyeaux Noel! Bisous," She laughed. "I miss you. Have you had a nice day? Good. I will see you both soon. Tell Grandpa I sent my love. Oui. Oui, Papa. Okay, Au Revoir!" She sighed, as she hung up the phone.

She looked momentarily sad, and her chin wobbled a little. She seemed to be biting her lip, hard.

"How is your Grandmother?" Delphine asked carefully.

"She has perked up a little, but she's not getting any better for the meantime." She said, nodding.

"I'm sure she'll get well in time. Grandmothers are the toughest people," She smiled.

Danielle laughed a little, and looked to Delphine gratefully.

"I know. What was yours like?" She asked carefully.

"My father's mother was a spy in the war. She was French-German, and she worked behind enemy lines,"

"French-German? You mean - not Aurora Luft?!" She exclaimed.

Delphine laughed, and nodded.

"Oui. She is famous, I know. You have studied her too?"

"Oui," Danielle sighed, her eyes popping out of her head.

"She died last year. She was always so happy, and the stories she would tell- pfft," She laughed sadly. "Anyway, I know something we can do to cheer you up." She began, changing the subject. "In my family, we like to get very competitive and play games at Christmas. Have you ever played Pictionary?"

Danielle's slight frown broke into a cynical smile.

"Yes," She nodded. "And I am a terrible drawer,"

"Me too," Delphine laughed. "So that will make this even more fun, quoi?"

She jumped up, and grabbed the box from her bookcase, and dragged out a table to set it on. Danielle sat up, and sipped at her wine tentatively, as they began the game.

Delphine began to draw a shape with her pencil, her tongue sticking out in concentration. The timer still had a while to go, but she didn't know what she could do to make her drawing more obvious.

"What the heck is that supposed to be?" Danielle giggled, craning her head both ways.

"Hey!" Delphine said. "Come on, you can get it."

"Is it a cat?" Danielle tried, squinting her eyes at the amateur drawing.

Delphine shook her head, and kept tracing over the lines, as if that would help her to guess.

"A dog?" Danielle panicked as the timer was running out. "Oh! It's a- it's a um- oh the timer's run out."

Delphine sighed, and flopped backwards on the sofa.

"Go on, what were you going to say? You had it –"

"It's a wolf, isn't it?"

Delphine laughed, and buried her face in her hands.

"Was it really that bad? No, it was supposed to be a bear,"

She fell sideways into Danielle's shoulder, and groaned as they both laughed at her drawing.

"Okay then, your turn. Let's see if you can do any better," She challenged, raising her eyebrows.

Danielle took the pencil, and Delphine flipped over the timer defiantly.

Danielle began to draw a stick shape, with more shapes sticking off the side. She moved her hand in way that would make you expect an expert sketching, but her drawing was just as shabby as Delphine's. However, Delphine knew straight away what it was.

"A spider?"

Danielle looked at her, and narrowed her eyes.

"Where are the 8 legs?"

"Ok, um, is it a bird?" She carried on, pretending she really didn't know.

"Delphine!" She laughed frustratedly.

"Okay, oh! A stick insect?"

"Delphine, I know you know what it is!" She protested, as Delphine purposefully deviated from the correct answer.

"Hm? Ohhh, look, the time's up. Such a shame." She joked, shaking her head. "A dragonfly?" She picked up Danielle's card. "Must be as bad as me."

"I can't believe you," Danielle laughed, nudging her arm.

They played for a while longer, the small notepad getting filled with their scrawled illegible drawings. They ate far too much chocolate, and the quantity of wine was slowly deteriorating. After a while, they both fell asleep on the sofa, Delphine's head resting heavily on Danielle's shoulder, the Christmas tree lights dancing on the wall of the dimly lit room. ChouChou pawed pitifully at their feet, before hopping up to nestle under Delphine's arm, and they all slumbered silently in their own blissful comfort.


	12. Chapter 12

**Day after boxing day**

Danielle was practising her violin, playing Christmas carols and beautiful pieces that filled Delphine's head with images of winter. Though Delphine was downstairs, watching TV, she could still hear Danielle's playing, presumably from her favourite place to practise; the windowsill. She would sit in the bay window seat with her knees bent slightly, and play, looking out into the road. She always looked so peaceful.

There was a rapid knock at the door, though it sounded more excited than urgent. Delphine furrowed her brow, and walked towards the door curiously. It had better not be Leekie. She opened the door a crack, before pulling it wide open, a beaming smile flooding her face.

"Delphine!" Her sister exclaimed, throwing her arms around her neck. She was almost crying as she hugged her sister tighter. Delphine was bewildered, but elated. She hadn't seen her sister for months.

"Juliette?" She whispered, covering the back of her head with her hand, and swinging her gently from side to side a little.

"Joyeaux Noel," Juliette grinned, pulling out and simply looking at Delphine.

"Et toi," Delphine said, her chin trembling. She couldn't have been happier. "But what are you doing here? Why aren't you in Germany?!"

"We decided - it just didn't feel right without you, I hate being an only child," She admitted.

"Me too," She laughed. "Where are maman et papa?"

"They're parking the car. They have bags of presents for you," She breathed.

Delphine smiled, though a pang hit her as she remembered someone. This might just be rubbing it all in for Danielle; Delphine finally had the perfect family Christmas with bags of expensive gifts, and Danielle was still having to crash at her apartment because she couldn't afford to go to Nice to visit her Grandmother. They had such different lives.

A small noise from behind them made Juliette's eyes widen in amazement.

"You have _a cat?!_" She exclaimed, stooping down to greet the tiny kitten.

ChouChou miowed loudly as if to answer her question. Delphine watched the two interacting. She wondered if ChouChou would ever get any bigger, or if she would always stay so small. And with the amount she ate, it was surprising. Delphine realised she knew nothing of ChouChou's background, nothing of her breed, her genetics - nothing to hint at what she was supposed to be like. She grimaced as she thought of what Danielle had said about her parents not knowing anything about her background. Perhaps that was the truth.

Delphine held the door open, and saw her parents coming down her narrow front garden path, bearing huge present bags and expensive-looking boxes.

"Maman! Papa!" She exclaimed, kissing her mother on each cheek.

"Joyeaux Noel, ma petite," Delphine's mother said, dropping her bags in the hallway and hugging her daughter tightly.

"Joyeaux Noel, Papa," She beamed, pulling her father in with her other arm.

"Le meme a toi," He said, kissing her on the top of her head.

"Thank you for coming to see me," She said genuinely. "I'm so sorry I couldn't come - it's just my job wouldn't let -"

"It doesn't matter," Juliette said kindly. "We're here now! You're not on your own anymore. I bet you were singing 'It'll be lonely, this Christmas,'" She teased.

"Ah shhh," Delphine laughed. "Besides, I have someone to introduce. I was not on my own, in fact."

Delphine's parents looked to each other in intrigue. Did Delphine have another boyfriend? They hoped they would approve of this one a bit more than last time.

Danielle walked quietly down the stairs, she guessed what had happened and thought it would have been rude to stay up in her room. It reminded her of how, as a child, she would hide in her room when her mother's friends used to come round, until she was made to shyly introduce herself.

"Danielle!" She called up the stairs. "Oh, you're there. My family have actually made it! I had no idea. You have to come and meet them,"

Danielle smiled, but her heart was racing and she could already feel that she was blushing.

"This is Danielle, Maman, Papa, Juliette." She said, dragging her into the kitchen.

Her parents looked surprised. Delphine was having a friend to stay? She wasn't as lonely at Christmas as they thought. Danielle scanned their faces. Juliette smiled warmly, but she felt as if Delphine's parents were scrutinising her appearance as soon as she walked through the door.

She suddenly became very self-aware, and tried to think back to whether or not she was wearing odd socks, without having to look down at her feet.

"Bonjour, Danielle. J'suis Juliette," She smiled, offering her hand.

Danielle walked forward, a little too enthusiastically, and shook her hand. Juliette looked very like Delphine. Her hair was brown and wavy too, but longer, whereas Delphine's was cut short, and she had the same easy way of making you feel completely comfortable.

"Enchantée," She said, smiling back.

"Angeline," Delphine's mother held out her hand. As Danielle took it, she noticed that she too looked very similar to her daughter. They had the same hazel eyes, and the same creases around their mouths when they smiled.

"Oscar," Delphine's father smiled, taking Danielle's hand. He had blue eyes and thinning blonde hair. He was very tall, and thin, and just had a look of complete cleverness about him.

"Enchantée," Danielle smiled warmly, her cheeks a little red.

"Danielle had to stay on campus for the holidays too, so I thought we might as well be loners together," She joked.

"And what do you do, Danielle? What subject did you take at UPMC?" Oscar asked kindly.

"Oh, I'm not a scientist," She smiled sheepishly. "I'm at the Conservatoire, just over the road."

"She's head of the orchestra," Delphine boasted proudly.

"Is that so?" Angeline exclaimed. Juliette looked impressed.

"First violin, I presume?" Oscar asked.

Danielle nodded, blushing even harder.

"Oui, I was promoted just this year,"

"And of course, you haven't met -" Delphine began, before stooping down and beckoning to the cowering ball of fluff. "Come here, ChouChou -"

The kitten got up warily, and padded towards her, jumping into her arms for safety.

"You've got a kitten, Delphine?" Angeline exclaimed, walking closer to stroke its tiny head.

"Just what you always wanted, isn't it?" Oscar laughed fondly. "And they let you keep that here?"

"They, uh - they haven't said otherwise," Delphine said hurriedly. For all Danielle knew, Delphine's parents had bought this house for her; so supposedly there shouldn't be a 'they'. But thankfully, she didn't seem to notice. Delphine ushered her family along with her more recently adopted family into the living room, and made them fill the couch, and both armchairs. Danielle sat on the armchair the furthest away from Delphine and her mountain of presents; she felt a little uncomfortable intruding in their family time.

Danielle shifted a little in her seat; Juliette seemed to keep casting glances over to her. She caught her in the act a few times, and simply smiled embarassedly.

"I'm sorry to stare, it's just - it's amazing. You look _exactly_ like someone I know," Juliette admitted.

"What was that?" Delphine asked her sister. She hadn't been listening, but was intrigued at their interaction.

"There is someone in Berlin who looks very much like Danielle. You don't have a twin, do you, by any chance?" She laughed.

Delphine coughed a little, which turned into a small choking fit.

"No, I'm an only child," Danielle admitted. "Why, who do I look like?"

"A girl called Katja. She is about your age, a few years older than me. She is a fashion student. She sometimes does modelling for German magazines."

Delphine's heart froze as the name came from her sister's lips. Her face flushed red, but she tried to disguise her discomfort with a laugh.

Danielle smiled. So it was a compliment?

"There you go, Danielle." Delphine covered. "You look like a model. How's that for a compliment?"

Danielle laughed. "I know! And I am intrigued now, I might have a twin,"

"Perhaps," Delphine widened her eyes, trying to shrug it off as a joke, though it was everything but. It seemed her own sister had found another clone. A passport picture of a Katja Obinger lay in her file upstairs, along with the other two pictures, the only ones Leekie told her he knew of. Even at the time, Delphine knew that was a lie. There were more, she knew there would be.

But Danielle wasn't wholly joking. She had always dreamed of having a sister, and had often let her mind run wild to the possibility of having long lost siblings, just as every adopted child did.

Delphine shredded through the paper on each of her presents, and eventually sat back, completely happy with the whole unexpectedness of her day. She was surrounded by beautiful presents, and the people (and cats) she loved most in the world. This Christmas wasn't turning out so bad!

As long as Juliette kept shut about the whole Katja thing, she would still be safe. If Danielle so much as looked her up, she would find out more than she bargained for.

**AN: Hey guys, hope you liked these lil festive chapters. Christmas was like a month ago already, can you believe that?! so anyway i think that's the Christmas chapters over. I hope you're all enjoying it. I am aware (lol) that this fic isnt as popular as Welcome to the Trip. Hahaha I know it's not Cophine but it's close enough, isnt it? Lol anyway there will be some ****_interesting_**** Cophine a bit later on so stay tuned... if you really want WTTT back let me know and I'll see what i can do. I'm actually going to Paris in a few weeks so you never know, I might get ****_re_**** inspired! i didn't really have anywhere else to go with it but im sure i can do some more little paris bits if you want. Or, if it does so happen that you're enjoying this one i can push uploads and maybe get it done in the near future? maybe, idk yet though. just speak to me! i love to talk to you guys :) i must sound so sad asking for reviews all the time but without them i dont know if its worth uploading and stuff so...ty!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Mid January**

"Are you okay, Danielle? You look - you look tired," She said gently, noticing the bags beneath her eyes and her puffier face.

"Not really. The heating back at the apartment broke last night. It was so cold there was ice on the inside of the windows. I hardly slept." She took a deep breath of the steam from her coffee.

Delphine's face fell.

"Really? Oh that sounds horrible. Are you getting it fixed?" She asked.

"Not as far as I know. The college said they will try but it might take a while."

"They can't do that! What are they expecting you to do?"

"They told us to make other arrangements. James and Greg are going to sleep on their friend's floor until it gets fixed." She said, taking a long drink, warming her hands as if they were finally thawing out.

"Then that's settled. You're coming to live with me." Delphine said, her eyes lighting up.

Danielle's frown melted. "Oh no, I couldn't Delphine. I'll be fine, honestly. I have hot water bottles and jumpers." She tried.

"No, no. You're staying with me. I want you to. My house is big enough, and it's warm, and besides, it's half empty most of the time. I don't like it so much." She admitted, pleading Danielle with her wide hazel eyes.

Danielle bit her lip, her eyes narrowed.

"Are you really sure?" She asked warily. She wasn't sure if she was just being polite.

"M-hm!" She said brightly. "It will just be like Christmas all over again. You can use the same room, and I won't be the only one rattling around my big old house."

Danielle laughed, and patted a hand on Delphine's wrist.

"C'est gentil. Merci."

"If you want I'll go and get the car and you can put your stuff in there instead of us carrying it all the way." She suggested.

Danielle shook her head, and smiled.

"Why are you so nice to me?" She sighed. "That would be great, thank you."

Delphine leaned forward on the table, grinning. She seemed really excited about the prospect of having a housemate, though Danielle didn't know the half of it. She was making Delphine's life a lot easier, but not just by giving her company. Danielle got up to leave, pulling on her coat.

"Allons-y, then." Delphine said brightly, leading the way out of the cafe and into the snow.

They entered the apartment, and James and Greg were both stood in the kitchen with their coats done up to their necks.

"Y'alright Delphine?" James pepped. "God Danielle, did you have a shit night as well?"

"Oui, merci James." She scowled jokingly. "Are you okay Greg?"

"Not too bad, not too bad. I swear it gets colder than this at home anyhow. I'm a highlands lad, you've got to remember." He said, his nose almost as icy blue as his eyes.

"Are you two moving out today?" She asked.

"Yeah, Thierry said he would lend us his sofa for as long as it takes." Greg said. "You could come too, if you really wanted to live in a house with even more lads."

Danielle smiled. "Thanks, but I'm okay. Delphine said I could stay with her." She admitted.

"Oh," James said, remembering what Danielle had told him about Delphine's empty townhouse across the road. And there he was, looking forward to days, weeks sleeping on his friend's sofa. "Okay then. I guess I'll keep hounding the college to get it fixed while we're away."

"It'll only be for a couple of days, James." She rolled her eyes.

"I bloody hope so," He said, wiping his nose on the back of his hand.

"Then I'll see you around." Danielle smiled, picking up one bag, Delphine hauling up the next.

"See you later," Greg and James called, waving her out of the door.


	14. Chapter 14

**Some weeks later...**

The cat bolted past Danielle, and darted into Delphine's room. Danielle laughed and huffed fondly as she chased it, coming to a sudden halt at the threshold to Delphine's room. The door was open, but she didn't feel so comfortable going in. But Delphine wasn't in, and she needed to find ChouChou before she devoured a mouse on Delphine's carpet. She would thank her, surely.

Danielle hurried into the bedroom and found the cat on Delphine's bed, scrabbling at the duvet, trying desperately to pull the covers away so she could lie beneath them. Danielle had got used to her doing this, but didn't think Delphine would find it so cute when she found mouse remains in her sheets. The cat dug the duvet away and curled up in the warmth of the double bed.

Danielle picked up the cat who miaowed reluctantly, and if she didn't know better she would think its face held a sulky expression. As she picked her up, her claws clung stubbornly to the sheets, and Danielle noticed what she had been sitting on.

Several sheets of paper full of Delphine's handwriting lay hidden under the duvet. Danielle wouldn't have thought anything of it if she hadn't seen her own passport photo paper clipped to the top. She stooped to drop the cat down, no longer caring where it chose to eat its findings, and picked up the papers with confusion etched on her face. Her ears moved backwards a little as all her senses awakened to listen out for anyone coming into the house.

She read the top sheet, taking the picture in her fingers.

_Subject 324b19:_

_Danielle Fournier_

_Music, Conservatoire de Paris_

_Monitor: Delphine Cormier_

Danielle's brow furrowed deeply, her heart racing. What the hell was this?! She read further - neat notes in Delphine's loopy handwriting.

_No obvious health issues_

_Poor (money wise) childhood_

_15ieme arrondissement_

_Supportive parents - Jeremie Fournier and Fabienne Fournier - married but unable to have children of their own._

Daniell blushed hot as she saw the last sentence. She had told Delphine this in complete confidence. What on earth was she doing writing it down?

_No 9, Bluestack apartments, shares with James ? - Australian and Greg ? - Scottish_

_Recently awarded head of orchestra at the Conservatoire_

_Completely self oblivious_

Danielle's hands trembled, one crossing over her mouth in shock. _Self oblivious? _She dropped the picture and the sheet onto the bed, and averted her attention to the file in her hands. She flipped over the cover and read:

_Project LEDA est. 1977_

_Subject 324b19: Previously unmonitored. Smuggled into Europe along with other clones.._

Danielle breathed out shakily.

Clones?

The project LEDA file also had small passport pictures of 3 other faces. Faces identical to Danielle's. She picked one up and flipped it over: Alison Hendrix, Scarborough, ON, Canada.

"Oh! Mon dieu," her voice trembled as she read the name. She threw the picture down. Was this some kind of sick joke?

The other picture was another variation of the same face. On the back, it read: Beth Childs, East York, ON, Canada. The last, Katja Obinger, Berlin, Germany. She collapsed onto the bed, and ran a hand through her curly hair in panic.

Where had she heard that name before? – Juliette had mentioned a Katja at Christmas – said their resemblance was amazing. Could this be the same person? It had to be. Berlin, Germany. They had the same face.

Why the hell did Delphine have these files? Why the hell were there so many pictures of her own face with different names? Clones? What was that supposed to mean?! So she was a clone? That wasn't even possible, never mind legal. But there it was, she was subject number 324b19 and Delphine was her 'monitor'. Surely she wouldn't do this to her, lie to her all this time. Danielle shook her head. No, nothing about Delphine felt fake, their friendship was real! Wasn't it? No way. But she couldn't deny the files which lay in her hand. There were supposedly another 3 people who looked exactly like her? Fine, then, triplets. Not clones. Not clones. But -

Danielle heard the door slam downstairs, and her heart lurched in her chest, fluttering uncontrollably. Her whole face flushed red, and she scrabbled about at the sheets of paper and stuffed them as carefully as she could back into their file.

"Allo?" She heard a familiar voice call.

Danielle threw the duvet back over the bed, darted out of Delphine's room and began to walk down the stairs casually.

"Danielle? Es-tu chez?"

"Oui," She replied, her voice wavering, trying to smile as Delphine came in through the door.

"Ahh, ma meilleure petite colocataire," She said, hooking an arm around her neck unexpectedly and kissing her happily on the cheek.

"_Ahh, my best little house mate,"_

Danielle smiled slightly, but her body stiffened up, and Delphine pulled away. Delphine furrowed her brow, and smiled a little in confusion at her friend.

"Is everything okay?" She asked brightly.

"Yes - um - fine." She coughed a little, her throat suddenly dry.

"Mm!" Delphine nodded, and shrugged her shoulders happily. "Good."

"Except," Danielle began, pulling her phone from her pocket. "The- the heating just got fixed." She nodded. "So...I'm moving back out." She said quickly. She had suddenly become terrified that Delphine's big idea for her to move in was to make it easier to keep tabs on her, for her crazy investigation, and she needed to get away.

"What?" Delphine frowned. Danielle moving in was the best thing that ever happened to her and her career; she had company in her big house, and it made it so much easier to get information and fulfill her monitoring duties.

"Oui, er, James just texted me." She blurted.

Delphine slung her handbag down onto the table and sat down.

"Oh! Did he?" She said, her smile fading. Danielle felt a little guilty for destroying her good mood. This was Delphine, she wasn't a spy or a monitor, or any of that weird stuff. She was her friend! Danielle's mind played moral ping pong as she stared into Delphine's wide eyes. "Well, you know, you don't have to go back. You can stay with me. I don't pay for this house either, so you don't have to pay rent, and I - well, I like having you around."

"I liked being around." Danielle said minimally. Though she didn't want to believe what she had read, she _had_ read it. And though her heart told her to trust Delphine and to stop being so paranoid, every instinct in her body screamed fire. Staying with Delphine was playing right into her hands, whatever game she was a part of. "But I need to go back, it's my home."

"You can _make_ a home _here_." She tried. Her plan was crumbling apart right before her eyes. She tried to use the sympathy appeal. "Please, Danielle. I don't like living alone. It has been really nice to have someone to share this big old house with. Please stay. And, what about ChouChou?" She said weakly, smiling.

Danielle glanced over at the cat. It was all her fault that she found out about all this in the first place. She wondered whether to thank or blame her for that.

"I'm sure ChouChou will be fine without me, Delphine." She said, ignoring her pathetic attempt at emotional manipulation. "I have to pack." Danielle turned her back, a lump rising in her throat. One of her only friends, the first friend she had ever felt a proper connection with, was keeping something huge from her. How could she live with someone she didn't trust?

She walked up the stairs slowly, hoping she hadn't let on too much to Delphine. Friendly as she may have seemed, Danielle knew their trust had been shattered, and that she needed to be careful. Delphine might easily find out that she knew, and that could be dangerous.


	15. Chapter 15

**The next day...**

Delphine walked across the snowy campus glumly, her chin buried in her creamy white scarf. A tall boy with sandy blonde hair walked past her, smiling as he approached.

"Y'alright mate?" He asked happily, their faces both red from the cold.

"Oh, hello James. Yes, I'm well, thank you. You must be happy too, Danielle told me."

"Happy about what?" He asked, digging his hands further into his pockets and shivering.

"The heating," She smiled.

"Hah. I dunno bout you, but I don't really enjoy having an igloo for a house. Aussies aren't cut out for that kinda freshness,"

"No, I mean you must be happy the heating is fixed," She pressed, smiling confusedly.

"The heating...hasn't been fixed, mate. I dunno what Danielle's been telling you. I went up there yesterday to get some of my stuff. It's colder than it is out here."

Delphine's smile faded, and she bit her lip, hard.

"Oh, okay. She must have been mistaken. I'll go and tell her now,"

"H-yeah, I think that's called wishful thinking." He laughed fondly. "Well anyway, seeya round Delphine."

**Minutes later...**

Delphine abandoned her plans of going back to university for the day, and made a beeline for Danielle's apartment. Something was going on.

_"_Danielle," She buzzed into the telecom. "Danielle, can I come up?"

Danielle span around as she heard Delphine's voice so close to her; she had ramped her fear and anticipation up so much for facing her again. The blue light flickered on the telecom box beside the door, and she stood stock still, staring at it. If Delphine came up she would soon realise she had lied about the heating.

"Danielle, I know you're in there. And James told me about the heating. I know it's not fixed, but I want to talk to you. Please let me up."

Danielle shook her head, her heart racing. She walked over to the speaker and held the button down, sighing before speaking. Delphine heard Danielle's line crackle through, and heard her long, shaky sigh. She was nervous.

"Delphine," She began. "I didn't want to lie, but- - I don't know what's going on." She sighed again. "I'm letting you in."

She pressed the button for the door, and paced her room in anticipation before hearing a knock at the door. Danielle eased it open, and stood back as Delphine walked in, her wide eyes making her look as innocent as ever, her woolly hat pulled over her hair. She greeted Danielle with a solemn expression.

"Danielle- why did you lie to me? You knew it wasn't safe to come back here, so why - didn't you like living with me?" She asked, her brow furrowed.

Danielle's mind scoffed at Delphine's hypo criticism. Like that was the biggest lie in question here.

"I didn't want to lie to you, but -"

"But what?" She pressed; she was beginning to anticipate the worst.

"But I don't if I can trust you anymore." She said, her eyes not leaving the ground.

"What?" Delphine asked, playing confused.

"Delphine," Danielle said impatiently, meeting her sorry gaze. "Please, don't try and pull the wool over my eyes any more. I _know._ I just want the truth."

Delphine's heart hammered in her chest, she hadn't ever really prepared for this moment, mainly out of pure stubbornness that she wouldn't have to. It seemed welcoming her subject into her house may have caused her to let her guard down a little.

"The truth? The truth is that I am your friend, and I want to help you out. Whatever the problem is, we can work it out!"

"Not this time, Delphine." She said, her chin trembling.

"Come on, you can't live here like this. The water won't even run, you told me. Just come back home, please, and we can talk about it."

"I can't," Danielle whispered, her eyes winced, as if it pained her to say it.

Delphine breathed in deeply, and ran a hand through her hair, turning her back briefly.

"Just tell me what this is all about!" She exclaimed, dreading that she had finally found out about everything.

Danielle sighed, and walked over to Delphine, holding her by the shoulders and seeking her eye contact desperately.

"Please, Delphine. You have _files_ on me. What are they about? I _need_ to know. Who were those other people with my face? Where did you get those?"

Delphine's heart lurched into her mouth, then sank, far down. She had been foiled, completely.

"I don't know what you're-"

"Delphine!" Danielle shook her by the shoulders, her eyes filling up with tears. "I thought you were my friend!" She cried. "What the hell is going on?! I have a right to know!"

The 'C' word floated about in her mind, whether at the forefront of her consciousness or in her background thoughts, it was always there. She dreaded hearing the word pass out of Delphine's lips.

Delphine passed a hand over her face, and pulled off her hat, folding it in her hands, over and over. She sighed, and bowed her head, looking up at Danielle guiltily.

"Danielle - " She began, making to walk towards her.

Danielle moved backwards, like a repelled magnet. Though really she wanted to go to Delphine so much. She wanted all of this to have been made up - not real. But it was real. And she had to be hard with her feelings. She was angry at her tendency to forgive people straight away.

"Okay then. I'll make you a promise." Delphine breathed in deeply, as if it was difficult to disclose what she was about to say. "Come home, and I will show you everything. I'll tell you everything I know - about your sisters, your background - everything." She pleaded. "And that is something I am NEVER supposed to do. It's dangerous for me, but I'll do it. Please, Danielle - "

Danielle rolled her eyes, biting her lip. She tried not to look at Delphine, whose emotion seemed to be embodied in the state of her hair. Her brown fringe was sticking up in all directions, frustrated, and her eyes seemed to beg her silently.

"You'll show me everything?" She asked.

Delphine nodded convictedly.

"Everything."

"Why would you do that if it's so dangerous for you?" She asked, confused.

"Because I _care_ about you, Danielle. I don't want us to part our separate ways. I don't want you to hate me."

Danielle sighed, and shook her head.

"I wish I could hate you. I...wish I could."

Delphine's face softened. This girl really was the nicest person she had ever met. After all she'd done and she couldn't even hate her.

"Even if you did, you wouldn't hate me as much as I hate myself." She admitted quietly. "I hated all of it. The lying, the spying - all of it. Then I began to hate myself for taking such a job in the first place. But at the time it was an incredibly opportunity. I thought I'd be able to handle it - not get so...invested. But." She slapped her palms on the sides of her thighs. "Here we are."

Danielle was still so baffled. Delphine was far more confusing than she'd ever given her credit for. But she didn't say anything. She shouldn't have to. She left Delphine standing by the door while she went to collect some things.

Delphine stood awkwardly, wondering whether she should just leave, whether this was Danielle's way to avoid telling her to get out, but soon enough, she reappeared, bag in hand. She had never unpacked her case, so had just zipped it back up, and brought it to the door.

"Come on then." She murmured.

Delphine let herself out first, watching as Danielle locked the door behind them. She climbed into Delphine's car in silence, and in a fleeting moment of fear, panicked that perhaps Delphine had planned all of this, she could kidnap her or worse - now that she knew the truth.

But as Delphine climbed into the driver's seat, and cast Danielle a look of pure sorrow, she knew that this was the same person she had made friends with all those months ago.

Walking through the door, everything felt false. Even the little cat padding up to her happily seemed untrustworthy. She found herself repulsed by everything she saw. Everything she used to love. The living room with their enlarged photobooth picture on the wall, and the wine coloured blanket Delphine had given her after the ice hockey match. The comical stone figure on the windowsill that used to make Danielle smile every time she went up the stairs - the familiar lemony smell of the air all around the house. It made her feel uneasy now. She noticed Delphine locking all of the locks on the door, and checking the handle vigorously, before making to head upstairs. She was unnerved, and paused on the bottom stair, before Delphine cast her a comforting smile, that regrettably, she fell for again.

Delphine took Danielle to her room, and brought out several thick paper folders from her bedside table; one of which was the one Danielle had found previously. Delphine seemed unusually sheepish as she sat down on the carpet, and gestured for Danielle to do the same. She obliged reluctantly, and watched as Delphine spread the papers over the floor; her eyes honing in to the 3 small passport pictures.

She remembered their names; Elizabeth, Alison and Katja.

Delphine watched Danielle's expression worriedly as she touched each of the small pictures in turn. She was breathing shakily, and her eyes were wide with emotion.

"Where would you like to start?" Delphine asked carefully.

"What am I, Delphine?" She whispered, staring down at the 3 identical faces.

Delphine bit her lip, hard, and closed her eyes briefly.

"I think you already know the answer to that."

"I'm a clone, aren't I?" She breathed, looking into Delphine's eyes expectantly.

Delphine nodded, in a grave manner, as though condemning somebody to a terrible fate. Which she may as well have been, Danielle thought.

ChouChou walked into the room, and stood on top of the papers. Delphine smiled a little, but Danielle just stared blankly into the carpet. Delphine picked up their kitten and moved her to one side.

"And what about these others?" She asked, pushing the 3 pictures towards Delphine. "These girls, they're my clones - my sisters?"

Delphine nodded again.

"Yes. I only know of these three women. Well, and - you." She hesitated. "They don't tell me everything."

Danielle winced at Delphine's use of the word 'they', reminding her again of her betrayal. She flipped over the pictures. The writing was the same as before.

'Alison Hendrix, Scarborough, ON, Canada.'

'Elizabeth Childs, East York, ON, Canada.'

'Katja Obinger, Berlin, Germany."

"What do you mean, they don't tell you everything? Are there more of us?" She asked, her heart hammering.

"I don't know," Delphine said simply, averting her gaze to the floor. "Perhaps, yes."

"Oh god." She gasped. "And this Katja – your sister, she knows her?"

Delphine sighed, and laughed a little, disbelievingly.

"Yes, it seems. I could not believe it when she mentioned her name. It is a small world, I suppose." She paused. "I know it's a lot to take in."

"No-" Danielle laughed. Delphine looked up, a little scared. This was not the Danielle she knew. This was a laugh of cynicism, malice, pain. "Delphine, in the same 48 hours I have found out that I am a _human clone _and my _best friend_ has been lying to me since the day we met. So you really don't know that it's a lot to take in."

If Danielle didn't know better, Delphine would have looked dreadfully sorry. But if she had been lying to her successfully thus far, she couldn't trust a thing Delphine did.

"It was my _job_, Danielle." Delphine said quietly. "I didn't have a choice."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?!" She exclaimed. "It's your _job_ to spy on me. You get _paid_ to write down every detail, any time I mustered up enough courage to confide in you. _Genial._" She was deeply hurt. She really thought Delphin was different, special.

"It's not like that." She murmured.

"Then what is it like, Delphine? Because I don't even know if I'm safe here, in your house. I don't know what you need to do to me now that I'm not - 'completely self oblivious'" She quoted Delphine's sheet, and Delphine winced as she recognised her own words.

"I'm going to do nothing, Danielle. You're safe with me."

Danielle shook her head, a tear running down her cheek.

"I don't even know what to think anymore." She admitted, hanging her head, her hair tumbling over her shoulders.

"Listen," Delphine pleaded, putting a hand on Danielle's arm. Danielle wanted to pull away, but couldn't bring herself to move. "Just - please. I am so sorry about all this. But I _am_ your friend. I am if you will take me. You're the best friend I have ever had, and I don't want to lose you." She admitted, her eyes wide.

More tears ran down Danielle's cheeks, and she couldn't look away from Delphine's face. She looked so genuinely sorry, and her eyes locked into Danielle's for gravitational seconds. She tried to ignore the soaring relief that Delphine loved her as much as she did, that she apparently appreciated their friendship the same, but she couldn't bring herself to. She didn't owe that to her at all. All it meant now was that the betrayal hurt so much more.

"What _do_ you do, then?" She pretended to overlook Delphine's confession.

"I- " She sighed, a little disappointed. "I give weekly updates on your health, and anything else I find out that may be of use." She grimaced at her own use of words concerning her friend. "And I am around just to watch over you, make sure everything is okay."

Danielle nodded. "Make sure I don't find out the truth, too I suppose. But you didn't do very well there, did you?" She smiled weakly.

Delphine laughed, relieved.

"No, I suppose not. But I am glad you know now. I _hated_ lying to you, you know. I couldn't bear it."

"Who do you give my information _to_?"

"A scientific institution called the DYAD." She sighed, before continuing. "You have actually met my boss - Aldous Leekie."

"Your prof-" She gasped, before realising. "Oh. So he wasn't really your professor."

Delphine shook her head, frowning as if she felt sickly guilty.

Danielle furrowed her brow, remembering when she answered the door on Christmas day. "But you told me not to tell him anything about myself. You - you kept pushing me away from him."

Delphine nodded slowly.

"Yes, well, that was at the time when I was beginning to realise I was getting rather protective of you."

Danielle felt a rush of longing for her friend, but overlooked it.

"I don't need protecting, Delphine."

"I've noticed, Xena." She joked warily.

**AN: If you would review, kind readers, I would really appreciate it. Thanks a lot!**


	16. Chapter 16

Danielle smiled reluctantly, and looked down at the floor. She began to pull at the toes of her odd socks as she sat there cross-legged.

"What do you know about these women? Can you tell me anything about them?" She asked quietly. This was the closest thing she would ever have to family, and she couldn't ignore the part of her that longed for it.

"Well, I don't know much, but – this girl, Alison Hendrix - lives in the suburbs of Toronto. She – as far as I know, she is a housewife and she has 2 adopted children."

Danielle puffed out her cheeks, and sighed.

"God, really? Are we really _that_ old?"

Delphine was relieved that Danielle was starting to accept the situation.

"And Elizabeth Childs is a Detective in Toronto also." She picked up the picture, showing it to Danielle.

"And Katja," Danielle said, looking down at the red haired woman in the photo.

"Yes, as my sister said, she is a fashion designer and model, in Berlin." She sighed. "You are all so different,"

Danielle nodded. Her head was whirring.

"Delphine –"

"Hm?"

"Would I be able to meet any of them?" She tried.

Delphine sighed, and stretched out her legs on the carpet.

"None of the others know – or should know that they are clones. You are an exception. In Leekie's eyes, I would be a failure for telling you. Which is why he can never find out. I would be fired, and you would have a new monitor, which – I hope you wouldn't want,"

"No," Danielle shook her head. "I don't want anyone else."

Delphine smiled. "Good."

"Delphine, couldn't I get to just speak to one of them?" She asked, seeking her eyes with her own. "Please,"

Danielle ran a hand through her hair, exhaling deeply. "Perhaps we could get in contact with one of them. If you really want. If we are careful, it could work."

"Really?" She gasped, her heart racing.

"I suppose I could find Katja's details on the system, if you like. We may as well try the European first." Delphine said, pulling out her laptop from beneath the bed.

She quickly typed in her password, and booted up the DYAD system. She had limited access. Only to the records of the 3 women and Danielle, but that was all she needed. She was just about to click on Katja's profile, when Danielle stopped her.

"Wait. Can I see my profile?" She asked, looking up at her friend.

Delphine paused, her mouth falling open.

"Are you sure?"

"Oui,"

Delphine clicked onto Danielle's name, and found the database of information. Her passport picture was at the top left, along with her address, birth date, parent's names and occupation.

"Oh god," She whispered. "Did you write all of this?"

Delphine bit her lip, and closed her eyes.

"Danielle," She began.

"Right. Ask no questions and you'll tell no lies." She joked dryly.

Delphine found a contact number, first of Katja's monitor, then of Katja herself. She wrote the number down on a piece of paper and handed it to Danielle.

"If you really want to, you can." She said, her eyes wide and trusting.

Danielle nodded, and took the paper. She would need a little while to recover before she went speaking to her clones. Her trust had begun to heal a little however, she knew it must be of great risk for Delphine to do this for her.

"I would love to meet her," She said, looking at the picture of the red-haired version of herself on the laptop screen. "Would that be ok?"

Delphine sighed, she should have expected this level of curiosity. Nobody could blame her.

"I would get fired, Danielle." She said solemnly. Danielle's heart dropped. "But - I wash my hands of it. I was never here," She smiled a little, and Danielle's disappointed frown uncreased into a smile.

"Merci," She whispered, placing a hand gingerly on her arm, before getting up from the floor and making for her own room, paper in hand.


	17. Chapter 17

Ring.

Ring.

Danielle's heartbeat hammered in her chest, pounding in her eardrums as she waited for the line to pick up and rehearsed everything over in her head for the fiftieth time. The line cracked through, and she broke the silence first.

"Hello? Is this Katja?"

"Ja, who is speaking?"

Danielle breathed in, and looked to Delphine, who nodded encouragingly.

"My name is Danielle. And - this might sound like a long shot, but – well, I am an orphan, and lately I have been doing some digging." She breathed. "I think we might be related."

There was a momentary silence. "Is this some kind of prank?"

"No! No, honestly I – there is evidence to suggest that I might have a sister, and I have searched in my records, to find somebody named Katja Obinger. That is you, isn't it?"

"Ja, that's me." The line went quiet.

"Hello?"

"So, you could be my sister?" She asked after a moment.

"Yes, well – that is what I have found,"

A long silence occupied the other end of the phone.

"Are you okay?"

"Ja, I just – I have always wondered too about my family."

"You mean you have no family either?"

"I don't know if I should be telling you this."

"Oui, yes. Of course."

"You're French,"

"Oui."

The line went quiet once more. Danielle began again.

"I was wondering – would we be able to meet up? It would really wrap things up for me, I mean, if we really are related."

"I don't –"

"Well I can come to you, or you can come to me, if you would prefer."

Katja breathed again, a little raspily, and coughed a few times before answering.

"I will come to you," She said quietly. "What is your full name?"

"Danielle Fournier. I study music at the Conservatoire de Paris,"

She was beginning to believe that this girl was genuine, would someone really make this up?

"Have you got a pen?"

"Ja,"

"I live at 34 Reimroc place. I'm crashing at my friend's house because the heating broke in my apartment, but she won't mind us meeting there." She tried desperately to add anecdotes such as that to make herself seem more trustworthy.

"Even if we do meet, how will we know if we are related?"

Danielle sighed, a sad smile crossing her face.

"I think we'll just know." She said. Both of them were in for a huge surprise.

"I would rather meet somewhere in public,"

"Okay, then. Could we meet next week? Is the 16th okay? There is a coffee shop on campus, it's called the Music Lounge. If you drive to the Conservatoire, you'll see it. You can't miss it. Big glass building."

"Okay then. The 16th. I will save your number."

"Great," Danielle said, not being able to stop the excitement creeping into her voice. "I'll see you then. Oh – and, would you mind not mentioning this to anyone? I want to keep it personal, you know, just between us – for now." She was aware at how dodgy that sounded.

"If you want, ja. Goodbye, Danielle."

"Bye, Katja,"

Danielle hung up the phone, and took a deep sigh. She beamed over to Delphine.

"It's happening, Delphine," She whispered. "What I've always dreamed about."

Delphine smiled, genuinely happy for her friend, but her heart raced with the worry of what could happen. This was completely against everything Leekie had made her sign to. This was over and above what was forbidden, but here she was, helping her subject meet her own clone. She was in far too deep now to ever get back out.


	18. Chapter 18

The red haired woman climbed out of the black cab and looked about at her surroundings. On her left was a large brick building with a sign outside that read 'Conservatoire de Paris', and further along the path to her right was a large glass building. She must be in the right place.

She pulled her fur coat further around herself, and strode confidently down the uneven path in considerably high heeled boots. Large sunglasses covered most of her face, despite the sun being clouded over in the winter sky, and tufts of her red hair stuck our beneath her black floppy hat.

A tall, black haired boy of around 23 walked past her, and gawped obviously. She rolled her eyes behind her sunglasses, and carried on walking. Well, she was used to it.

"Hey!" Greg shouted. "Danielle!"

She kept on walking. Danielle? That was strange.

"Danielle!"

She still ignored his voice, and walked down the path, swinging her arms confidently. Before she knew it, he had jogged up beside her.

"_Danielle! I haven't seen you in too long - are you going for a new look? I like it! And what's with the sunglasses? Have you got a hangover or what_?" He laughed. Greg spoke French quite often with Danielle, having studied it all the way up to college.

Katja smiled confusedly, but she could not understand what he was saying. She assumed it was French – a language which she had never bothered to learn. However, she noticed how familiar the boy seemed with her, as if they knew each other, and she didn't like it. Pfft. The French and their overly affectionate ways.

"Pardon," She said, and tipped her hat before walking off, leaving the boy speechlessly confused.

"Someone got out the wrong side of bed today," He mumbled, before giving up and walking in the opposite direction. Her behaviour was very unlike her.

Katja breathed in deeply, and shook herself as if to clear her head. Well, she couldn't help attracting male attention all of the time. Besides, she had got used to it. She strode up to the glass building, where she could see inside to the coffee shop. Condensation clouded the windows warmly, and the deep smell of coffee filled her nostrils as soon as she walked inside. Her phone bleeped.

'Danielle

I will be there in 2 minutes. I got held up, see you soon!'

She sighed, and strutted up to the counter, not taking off her large sunglasses.

"Black coffee, thankeshern."

The barista smiled a little unsurely, and laughed.

"Are you okay, Danielle?" She asked.

Katja was getting confused now. That boy _had _mistaken her for Danielle. And this was the second person to do so. Did they really look so similar? - Could they be twins? She became excited with the prospect of this. Before she had even met Danielle she knew they must be truly related now.

"I am not Danielle," Katja stated. "Although I am waiting for her,"

The barista's eyebrows shot up.

"Are you twins?" She asked, genuinely interested, as she prepared the coffee.

"No, apparently we just look very similar." She said, wanting to avoid any more questions.

The barista laughed, as if Katja was joking, and handed over the drink.

"3 euros, s'il vous plait," She smiled.

Katja handed over the money, and took a table in the middle of the shop - an empty seat laying across from her.

"Delphine," Danielle gasped as she looked through the window. "She's there." Her hands shook desperately as she ran them through her curly black hair.

Delphine glanced in through the window, and saw the red haired version of Danielle, who had now taken off her hat, but not her sunglasses.

"Pfft," She exhaled, nodding. "She's definitely your clone,"

"Delphine! That's not helping!" Danielle whispered urgently. "I can't do it, I can't –"

Delphine tore her gaze from Katja's oblivious form and took Danielle by the shoulders, steering her gaze into her own.

"Yes, you can. Look at me – you can do this. You're going to go in there, and –"

"What if people ask questions? What if – what if they _know_?" She said, her eyes widening in horror.

Delphine laughed, and rolled her eyes.

"Danielle. Do you really think people's first instincts will be that you two are clones? No! If anyone asks, you're twins, okay?" She assured.

Danielle nodded, and breathed in through her nose, staring at Delphine determinedly.

"Come on, you can do this." Delphine said, kissing her on the forehead, and ruffling her hair. "Go on. Go. Chance!" (bon chance = good luck)

Danielle smiled gratefully at her friend, and, taking a deep breath, let herself into the café.

She strode nervously over to the table, where Katja was drinking her coffee, staring straight ahead. This meant she hadn't noticed Danielle's presence.

"Allo? Katja?" Danielle began.

Katja looked up, and was met with a face she had only ever seen before in the mirror. Her eyes widened, and she choked slightly on her coffee. She slowly took off her sunglasses, and her mouth fell open. Danielle smiled, and sat down opposite her.

"I'm Danielle," She said carefully, offering out her hand.

"Hallo - Danielle," Katja stuttered, her face overcome with emotion. She took her hand, and held it there for a while, just staring across at her. Her chin wobbled slightly, and she bit her lip.

"Are you okay?" She asked kindly.

Katja simply nodded, and let go of Danielle's hand. It was strange for Danielle too. She had a real life sister, one she could touch, one she could talk to. Her throat was a little choked with emotion, as she saw how affected Katja had become.

"Dies ist – erstaunlich," She whispered, covering her mouth.

"We say _incroyable,_" Danielle laughed, hoping to break the solemnity.

Katja smiled disbelievingly.

"I suppose – you were right," She began, and Danielle was relieved she was actually speaking. "I was unsure that it would be clear if we were related even if we did meet – but, you said we would just know."

Danielle laughed, and nodded.

"Yes, I – well, I had seen pictures of your magazine covers, and – I pieced it all together."

Katja shook her head, smiling, her brow furrowed in complete amazement.

"Then, thank you." She said solemnly, their eyes locking.

Delphine thought she had milked the whole 'having a cigarette outside whilst totally spying in on that table over there' act enough, and stamped out the stub on the floor before making back for home. She felt content, though she couldn't ignore a small pang of jealousy for Danielle. She hoped that their relationship wouldn't become less important now Danielle actually had family. She shook the idea from her head. She was being ridiculous and selfish. But then she also worried about the whole situation in itself. If Leekie found out any of this had happened, he would destroy her entire career. But that was a risk she had willed to take for her best friend's happiness. For the peace of mind she had craved since being a child; to find out if she had real family.

Delphine made her way home, and slung her coat down over the banister, not bothering to hang it up this time. She stood on the back of her shoes as she pulled each off separately, stooping down to scoop ChouChou up into her arms.

"How are you, my little chou?" She crooned, speaking softly to the cat, her mouth close to its fur.

ChouChou miaowed emphatically, and rubbed her head into the curve of Delphine's neck, her tiny claws scratching on Delphine's jumper as she tried to climb in closer.

"Danielle has found her family, now," She whispered to the kitten, though it was as much to admit to herself. She walked into the kitchen and clicked on the kettle. "What do you think about that, huh? She's just like you, she doesn't know who her real parents are either." She picked the ChouChou up, and held her up in the air, above her own head, staring into her big blue eyes. "Maybe _you'll_ find them one day, huh?"

The kettle turned off, and warm steam billowed out of the nozzle relentlessly. Delphine picked it up, and attempted to make an instant coffee with one hand, the other holding the restless kitten close to her chest.

"So – you never knew your parents either?" Danielle asked, taking a sip of her latté.

Katja shook her head.

"No. I was adopted when I was very young,"

Danielle nodded.

"Me too," She smiled. Though she had no sourness towards being adopted in the slightest. She loved her parents, and as far as she was concerned, they were worth more than her real parents any day. Besides, now she knew that her real parents were probably just scientists, concerning her only as an experiment, not a child of their own.

"Did you ever wonder – you know, whether you had siblings? I know I did,"

"Ja, of course. But I never expected – twins." She smiled slightly. "Besides, I gave up on that dream a long time ago."

"Not completely, though." Danielle laughed.

"No. When you rang, I – I knew I should just forget about it. It has taken me a long time to put that dream aside. I knew I shouldn't tempt myself again." She admitted. "But, here we are. I just couldn't resist, not when you were telling me the words I had always dreamed of hearing."

"I'm so glad you're here." Danielle said solemnly.

"I am also glad you are here," Katja said, resting her hand on top of Danielle's.

They both paused in silence, their touch a real reminder of what they had now. It made it all so tangible. Not just a voice on the phone or a dream in a notebook.

"Katja," Danielle said, not looking up from their hands.

"Ja?"

"I know – I know you have had a lot to take in today, but –"She paused, glancing around herself.

"_Was_?"

"I want to show you everything I know – about our background."

"You haff more information?" She asked, raising her eyebrows.

Danielle nodded, her eyes wide.

"Oui. Lots. Of information."

"Okay then," She said determinedly, nodding. "Show me."

Danielle smiled. She knew exactly how it felt to finally have the possibility of answers. And she was hungry for more. She wanted her sister to share in her colossal discovery.

They finished their coffees, and Danielle led Katja over to their house. She drew out her key, and let them both in. Katja looked around, nodding in approval.

"You have nice house,"

"Thanks, but it's not exactly –"

"Danielle?" Delphine's voice called from the kitchen.

"Oui," She called back. "I have, um – I've brought someone."

Delphine's eyes widened, as she stared out of the window opposite her seat at the kitchen table. She got up immediately, and hurried as inconspicuously as she could to the hallway.

"Oh!" She said, as she was faced with the mirror image of her friend. "Wow," She had seen pictures of Katja before, but seeing them together like this, side by side, was – something else.

"Delphine, this is Katja. Katja, Delphine."

"Enchantée," Delphine smiled shakily, reaching a hand forward.

"Mich auch," Katja said, nodding curtly. (Me too)

"Die Ähnlichkeit ist erstaunlich," (The resemblance is amazing,) Delphine gasped, smiling to Katja.

"You speak German?" Katja asked. She was beginning to warm to Danielle's friend, though she felt she had a similar look, as if she knew her from somewhere. She shrugged off the idea. Today was not the day for thinking about lookalikes.

"Oui, my grandmother was German," Delphine said, before ushering them both into the kitchen. "Take a seat, please."

Katja sat down at the table, and looked around at her surroundings.

"Can I get you anything? A drink or – a snack?" Delphine asked warmly.

"No, thank you," Katja replied. She seemed rather refined, quiet.

"Danielle, could I have a word?" Delphine asked quietly. "One minute –"She smiled, taking Danielle into the living room.

"What are you doing?" She whispered urgently, though it was not out of anger, but fear. "If Leekie found out-"

"He won't," Danielle reassured.

"Danielle, this was not part of the deal,"

"Delphine, I have found out that I have a sister. And she is here, right now. She's real, not just a dream anymore, like when I was a kid. Please, this is really important to me. She needs to know,"

Delphine's eyes widened. "Needs to know…what?" She whispered.

"I want to tell her about the clones."

"No-"Delphine gasped. "No, Danielle, you mustn't."

"I won't do anything you don't want me to do. But is it really fair, Delphine? Out of everybody, we have the right to know exactly what we are, and we have people watching us, whose job it is to make sure we never find out. We owe it to tell her, like you did to me. I was the lucky one." Danielle gushed emphatically.

Delphine shook her head, closing her eyes.

"Oh god," She whispered.

"Please, Delphine?"

"Well, what if she told her monitor, what then?"

"She hasn't already, she told me she never mentioned to anybody why she was coming here. I'm sure we can trust her,"

"You are going to be the death of me, Fournier." Delphine sighed, allowing a reluctant smile to creep onto her lips.

"Merci merci merci!" Danielle pepped, jumping up on her tiptoes and kissing her on the cheek. "I'm going to need your help, though."

Delphine sighed jokingly, and shook her head.

"Anything else you want? You already have my job on the line, want anything else?"

"Nope," Danielle smiled. "But thank you, again."

"Go on, then." Delphine said, putting a hand on top of Danielle's head and steering her back into the hallway. "Go and get your stuff."

Delphine walked back into the kitchen, where Katja was stroking a highly contented ChouChou, who was sleeping on the table.

"Sie ist sehr nett," She smiled, rubbing the back of her index finger on the cat's neck. "Wie heißt sie?" (She is very cute. What is her name?)

"Merci," Delphine smiled. "Sie heißt ChouChou,"

"ChouChou," Katja repeated. "Nett,"

Danielle jogged back down the stairs, carrying Delphine's f0rbidden files.

"Katja," She began carefully, sitting down beside Delphine, opposite her new sister. "Are you sure you want to know everything? Some parts are…difficult. Confusing. You might not –"

"I want to know," Katja interrupted. "No matter what,"

"Okay," Danielle sighed, looking up at Delphine. She was about to begin, when Katja erupted into a violent coughing fit. It didn't stop, and her breathing sounded shallow and rattly. She covered her mouth with a tissue that she pulled out from her sleeve, and coughed until she could recover herself.

Delphine jumped up and brought her a cold glass of water. She put a hand on her shoulder as she set it down, stooping to her level.

"Are you okay?" She asked worriedly.

Katja nodded, and breathed in raspily, tucking the tissue back into her sleeve.

"Ja, I just have a – a bad cough this winter," She said, though the blood stains on her lips didn't go unnoticed by Danielle or Delphine. Katja took a drink from the glass, and uttered a 'thank you', before straightening herself up and looking like she was ready to listen. "Carry on, sorry."

"Okay," Danielle began again, opening up the file. She was still a little perturbed at Katja's outbreak, and her nonchalance of coughing up blood; so violently too. It had sounded painful.

They finished up explaining everything, watching Katja's face transform from disbelief, to shock, amazement, and finally accepting. She sat up straight in her chair, her hands clasped tightly in her lap.

"Et oui. Voila," Danielle concluded, smiling sheepishly.

Katja exhaled, passing a hand through her short red hair.

"Wow," She whispered. Pausing for what seemed like hours.

"So – if we are clones – then, do I have a monitor? But I can't, I can't have –"

Delphine nodded, her expression sympathetic.

"Oui, I'm afraid you will." She said carefully.

"Is there anyone you would suspect?" Danielle asked. Then she looked to Delphine and smiled a little embarrassedly. "Though it's not always _that_ easy."

"No, of course not. I don't have anybody spying on me."

"Are you in a relationship, Katja?" Delphine asked gently. She knew that the monitors were encouraged to get as close to their subjects as they could, so it was a possibility.

"No – "She hesitated.

Delphine grimaced a little. It _was_ a personal question.

"A best friend? Someone you spend more time with than anybody else?" Danielle pressed.

"There is my agent, Kurt." She said coldly. "But he wouldn't –"

"How long have you known each other?"

"About a year,"

Danielle and Delphine looked to each other, their expressions knowing.

"And what is he like?"

Katja became a little offended.

"Kurt is not my spy." She said defiantly.

"We're not spies, just – just monitors." Delphine tried, before realising it wasn't the best thing to say.

"Spying runs in your blood, though, yes?" Katja joked sourly. "I noticed your picture." She nodded towards a black and white framed photograph which stood on the cutlery drawer to her right. It depicted a young, blonde woman, wearing a light coloured dress that suggested 1940s, standing with her feet crossed, casually smiling at the camera.

"You know my grandmother?" Delphine asked, impressed.

"Ja. Of course. That is Aurora Luft." She said, looking across at the picture. "The famous Canadian-German spy in the Resistance. We were taught this too, you know."

Delphine nodded, smiling proudly as she looked to the picture.

"She looks very much like you," Katja said, squinting as she attempted to see the photo from where she was sitting.

"Thank you," Delphine accepted, deeply touched. She was incredibly proud of her Grandmother, and how her efforts were known throughout the world. She had been part of every WWII textbook she had studied at school, and it filled her with a fierce pride.

However, Katja's words stung her a little.

'Spying runs in your blood,'

She was a little ashamed at herself. Her grandmother had used her espionage to help win a war. But Delphine had spied shamelessly on her best friend to get some kind of recognition within a science multinational. Well, times do change.

"Katja – if you don't want to know more we can stop there. Knowing who your monitor is doesn't really matter. It's probably best you don't know if you want to seem oblivious." Danielle said.

Katja sighed, her gaze dropping to the the table.

"No. I know you are right. If I allow myself to admit it, it will be Kurt. Things between us – have always been a little rocky. He is my agent, my manager, my – I don't really know. He is very protective of me, which would seem to make sense,"

Danielle's eyes widened in sympathy. Delphine was troubled. This is how it felt for them to admit to their betrayal. It was painful to watch. And this was the second time she'd had to witness it.

Katja glanced at her watch nonchalantly, before realising the time and jumping to her feet.

"Oh! Mein Gott." She exclaimed. "My plane – is in 40 minutes. I should leave now."

Danielle and Delphine rose to their feet simultaneously, a little worried.

"Wait, Katja. Please, can you just promise us that you won't speak a word of this to anybody? That means not a soul, okay?" Danielle pleaded.

Katja shook her head, rolling her eyes.

"Ja, of course. I am not so stupid," She said, though Danielle was sure there was a hint of fondness in her voice.

"Would you like me to drive you to the airport?" Delphine offered.

"Nein, thankeshern," Katja said, with a hint of mischief that made Delphine nervous. She seemed much more courteous with Danielle. "I will get a taxi. I have contacts." She typed something on her phone quickly, and dropped it into her bag. "Keep in touch, shwester,"

"Oui, I will make sure of it. I will keep you updated." Danielle said, not knowing what she was supposed to do.

Katja came forward and hugged her spontaneously, strongly, as if all her emotion could finally be released. Danielle screwed her eyes shut, and clung onto her sister tightly.

Katja gathered up her bags, and pulled on her fur coat and hat.

They heard a beep from outside.

"Here is my ride," Katja said, smiling sadly.

"Will you be okay?" Danielle asked, forcing her chin not to tremble.

"Ja," She nodded solemnly, squeezing Danielle's hand before making for the door handle.

"See you again sometime?"

"Of course. Auf wiedersehn," She said, sliding her sunglasses onto her face. With a curt wave over her shoulder, she opened the door and was gone.

**AN: It was so lovely to write more of Katja and explore her further. This fic is so heartbreaking for me. ****_Why did all the Euros have to die?! _****Anyway, review if you would kind chums. I would really like that.**


	19. Chapter 19

That night, Delphine sat down determinedly at her desk, her table light craned over her laptop, blaring its garish white light over her hands as she typed. The daylight around her had gradually disappeared, and she was now sitting in a completely dark room, but she was only aware of the glare of the laptop screen on her face.

Today may have been a big day for Danielle, but it had affected Delphine more than one would expect. She was intrigued. She was invested. She wanted to know more. What Leekie was keeping from her.

She needed to hack into the DYAD system. She only had limited access, but she was sure she'd be able to do it. Maybe with a little help.

Delphine logged in to the Universities of Science forum, and, instead of creating a public post, navigated to …

**_geekmonkey_**

Clicking on the 'DM' button hesitantly, she began to type.

**_cormierD_**

hello, I was wondering if you could help me with something again?

Seconds later, the 'typing…' sign came up beneath her own writing, and she awaited the response nervously.

_**geekmonkey**_

well, that depends what youre going to ask me ;)

_**cormierD**_

just a … she paused ….a computing problem. Do you have knowledge of this area?

_**geekmonkey**_

Computing? I though you said you were immunology..?

_**cormierD**_

I am, but – i need to help a friend

_**geekmonkey**_

A friend? Right. What seems to be the problem?

_**cormierD**_

how are you with hacking?

_**geekmonkey**_

Hacking? Now you're really intriguing me. How do I know I should indulge you in such a skill?

_**cormierD**_

oh, it's only for educational purposes, of course. My friend is stuck and she needs to hack into a system for…part of her project

_**geekmonkey**_

hahaha youre a shit liar, cormier. But as I say, im intrigued. Can you promise me it's totally benevolent?

_**CormierD**_

Completely. Je vous promets.

_**g**__**eekmonkey**_

We're not on 'tu' terms yet? I'm disappointed.

**cormierD**

okay then, je _te_ promets that the hack will not harm anybody. In fact it would be helping my friend out a great deal

_**geekmonkey**_

okay, I'm in. talk me through it and I'll see what I can do.

Delphine sighed, sitting back in her computer chair. This was going to be a long night.

It was 10pm, and Danielle was playing her violin, sat in the windowsill. It was such an emotive piece that Delphine was sure it was improv. She had noticed Danielle's playing changed with her moods, and with the day they had had, the tone of her playing wasn't surprising. She knew Danielle liked to express her feelings through music, sometimes it was the only way for her to work out her emotions. Delphine tiptoed in quietly, and just watched her playing for a few moments; Danielle was oblivious that she was even there. She knocked quietly on the door to make it seem that she had just walked in.

"I'm going to get a drink, do you want anything?"

Danielle stopped abruptly, her eyes looking at Delphine, but not seeing, as she seemed to do after a long practise session. She had told Delphine before that it was the weirdest thing; that after playing for so long she had no desire to talk; it was a complete surreal feeling, as if she had been absorbed in her own music world for so long that she had forgotten how to function in the real one.

Delphine smiled as she realised how Danielle was feeling.

"No, thank you," Danielle said, smiling strangely.

"Okay," Delphine said, easing out of her room. "Bonne nuit,"

"Bonne nuit. Bisous," Danielle said.

Delphine smiled, and closed the door behind her.

Danielle's playing commenced again almost as soon as the door was shut. She also remembered that Danielle had told her how it was the same feeling as waking up after an amazing dream and feeling that she didn't belong in the real world; with the strange feeling lingering for a while. And when people interrupted her it was like being woken from the dream, and when they left, she could fall straight back into it. Delphine guessed she would never understand, but she loved how they were both so different.

She jogged downstairs and grabbed a cup of coffee, and filled a bowl with popcorn, and raced back to her laptop chair.

_** cormierD**_

I'm back.

_**geekmonkey**_

Okay, let's get this party started!

Delphine fired messages backwards and forwards, explaining to _geekmonkey_ the ins and outs, and limitations of the system. Geekmonkey sure was clever. They suggested things Delphine would have never even thought of; they evidently knew a lot about computing; maybe even about everything. Geekmonkey was one of the most educated people Delphine had ever talked to about science, that was certain.

She tried everything geekmonkey suggested, backtracking when it didn't work, sharing each other's frustration. She was surprised and genuinely appreciative of geekmonkey's concern and will to help her, and used every moment she had with their help to the best of her ability. She knew that they could go offline any moment; besides it was a lot to ask someone to stay online for what was merging into hours upon hours, helping a stranger with a potentially impossible hacking problem.

She deleted her next message, and changed her words.

_**cormierD**_

Thank you for this. It really means a lot.

_**geekmonkey**_

No problem, cormier. But by the end of this I'll need your number as payment

_**cormierD**_

okay then. Deal.

She had often wondered whether geekmonkey was male or female; to be honest, sometimes the way they talked was quite teasing, brinking on flirtatious. But equally, geekmonkey didn't know whether Delphine was male or female. Perhaps they just wanted to stay in contact.

It was nearing 5 am, and they were getting close to cracking it. Really close.

_**cormierD**_

I think we're nearly there!

_**geekmonkey**_

No way! Cool, okay, so maybe now you can try this –

Delphine tried it. She typed in the code, her hands typing carefully, her big brown eyes flicking from the keyboard to the screen rapidly. She was hunched over the laptop, desperate for this to work.

"Mon dieu," She whispered, as she was greeted with the magical words, her frown uncreasing into the hugest smile. She covered her face with her hands, and kissed the laptop screen, beaming as she stared at the words.

'User 276590, Level 1 access,"

_**cormierD**_

geekmonkey. we did it

**geekmonkey**

for real?! Seriously?!

_**cormierD**_

we cracked it!

_**geekmonkey**_

OH DUDE that's hella awesome OH my god. I'm so glad :D YESSS im sure your friend will be like rad happy

_**cormierD**_

Yes, she is, in fact ;)

_**geekmonkey**_

Ok, quit teasing. I know this was really just for you,

_**cormierD**_

Perhaps

_**geekmonkey**_

Anyway, you made me a promise

_**cormierD**_

did I?

_**geekmonkey**_

your number, pleaaase?

_**cormierD**_

okay, I did promise didn't i?

+44 7700 900906

_**geekmonkey**_

Rad. Okay I'll talk to you sometime soon.

**_cormierD_**

thank you for all your help, so much

_**geekmonkey**_

glad to help dude, catch ya later

**_cormierD_**

A bientot xx

And with that, she logged out. Faced with the endless possibilities of the DYAD database. There could be hundreds more clones, other projects, more information on Danielle - anything. And she buzzed with excitement. She pondered the idea of waking Danielle up, but decided against it. It was 5 am and Delphine felt that she wanted to explore it first; well she had cracked it herself.

She clicked onto the tab at the top: Subjects

As she did, the screen unloaded into her vision tens of images of the same face. Danielle's face. But with different hair, names and expressions. This was amazing. She scrolled down and down and drank all of their names in; before resting on one. There was Danielle. Although they all looked the same, none of them were Danielle. None of the others were her best friend. She felt the most familiar, the one Delphine was most comfortable looking at. The others made her a little uneasy. The repeating face over and over was beginning to freak her out a little. She noted all their names – they seemed to be in alphabetical order.

Alison Hendrix

Aryanna Giordano

Cosima Niehaus

Charlotte Bowles (though there was no picture, and little information)

Danielle Fournier

Elizabeth Childs

Janika Zingler

Jennifer Fitzsimmons

Katja Obinger

Rachel Duncan

Tony Sawicki

"Wow," She breathed, scanning over all the faces. She clicked onto each profile and noted down all of their basic details, name, age, date of birth, country of residence, etc.

She found Katja, and with the higher level of access, saw that her monitor's name was in fact Kurt Schulte. She sighed. They were right. And Katja had even admitted to it.

Delphine found two other clones; Aryanna Giordano and Janika Zingler; both in Europe, Rome and Salzburg respectively.

She raised her eyebrows, and exhaled deeply. She would be able to get Danielle in contact with these two as well if she wanted.

The others were all American or Canadian.

She looked at one of the faces, and smiled. This one looked like a cheekier version of Danielle; she had black dreadlocks and thick rimmed glasses, and smiled a toothy grin, unlike the others in the pictures who either had a slight smile, or a complete passport-required scowl. It was amazing to see all of their different backgrounds; each of these clones will have had adoptive parents, they all will have gone to school and had hobbies and friends – all living their separate lives completely unaware of their true being.

This one – Cosima, she noted, was a biologist at University of Minnesota. Delphine's heart warmed a little. So, Danielle probably had a scientific side to her too. She thought she would very much like to meet the scientist clone; see how different she was to Danielle, talk to her about science-y stuff. It would be interesting.

Delphine thought about waking Danielle up to show her, but there was no rush, and she'd had enough of an overload already. This was unnecessary. She decided to wait till morning. Then she realised that she had been awake _all_ night. And Danielle would be getting up in only 2 hours anyway. She left her laptop on, and collapsed onto her bed, falling asleep almost instantly.


	20. Chapter 20

Danielle woke up, and checked her watch on her bedside table. 8.30. That was strange, there was no ChouChou to dive on her bed this morning, nor Delphine reminding her that she would be late for rehearsal. She pulled on her dressing gown and padded down the stairs, noticing that Delphine's bedroom door was still shut.

Danielle turned on the radio and dropped some bread in the toaster, her eyes barely open, and filled a glass with apple juice. As she sat down at the table, and tried to wake herself up, she was greeted with the sound of tiny cat footsteps bounding down the stairs. Delphine must be up now too, she thought. Danielle sat and looked out of the large patio doors out into Delphine's long, rectangular garden. She was so lucky; Danielle had always dreamed of having a garden like this one ever since she was a kid, but she'd always lived in an apartment where the most she could have was a flower pot on her balcony. Sure enough, ChouChou pounced into the kitchen, and half ran, half slid over to Danielle, who immediately swept her up and hugged her close to her chest.

"Bon jour, mon petite chaton!" She smiled, kissing its tiny head.

Delphine slumped into the kitchen, her brown hair sticking up everywhere, the darkest bags beneath her eyes. She had her laptop beneath her arm, and mustered up a weak smile as she saw her friend.

"_La vache,_ Delphine. Are you all right? You look shattered," (Oh my gosh, holy cow, etc)

Delphine simply nodded, grabbed Danielle's toast out of the toaster and threw it to her, sitting down beside her friend.

"I was up…all….night." She said, her eyes almost closed.

"What? Why? You couldn't sleep or-?" Danielle asked, taking a bite into her toast.

Delphine plonked the laptop down onto the table.

"No, I was – I was doing some _recherche_." She said, opening the lid.

"On what? Immunology? Or - the clones?"

"Oui, the clones." She said, looking straight into Danielle's eyes. "Would you like to know what I found?"

Danielle nodded vigorously, her eyes wide.

"Well, you have more sisters," She revealed.

"Even more?! More than 3?"

"More than 3," Delphine smiled tiredly. "Danielle, you are one of 11 clones."

"11." Danielle breathed. She almost dropped the toast in her hand. "11!? So there are 7 others that I don't know about?"

Delphine nodded, her tousled hair bouncing. "Oui,"

"How the – how the hell did you find that out? I thought they wouldn't tell you everything," Danielle asked incredulously.

"I hacked the system," Delphine said, biting her lip and laughing a little ashamedly.

"You what?! You _hacked_ the DYAD's system?" Danielle exclaimed, shocked but undeniably impressed.

"Yes, well – I had a little help. From an internet acquaintance." She admitted. "Anyway, wouldn't you like to see?"

"Mon dieu, oui! Of course I would," She said, inching closer to Delphine and the laptop.

"Okay then," Delphine smiled across to her friend, and booted up the DYAD database. She clicked onto the 'Subjects' page, and showed Danielle the screen with the names and photographs.

Danielle gasped, and covered her mouth with her hand as she comprehended what she was seeing. There she recognised herself, obviously, Katja, Elizabeth and Alison, but there were so many more. That one sounded Italian, that one sounded German or Austrian or something – then there were the more western sounding names, like Rachel Duncan, Charlotte Bowles and Jennifer Fitzsimmons.

"What about this one?" She asked, pointing to Tony. He had undeniable facial hair, and a golden tooth in his cocky smile.

"Yes, well, it seems you also have a brother. Formerly _Antoinette_ Sawicki."

Danielle puffed her cheeks out and exhaled, taken aback. This was all so complex.

"_She_ has a cool name," She said, after staring at the screen for a while.

"Yes, she does." Delphine nodded. "Cosima is a biologist at a University in America,"

"Woah," Danielle sighed, laughing. "Mon Dieu, we are all so different. What about her, what does she do?"

Danielle referred to the picture of a girl with smiling eyes, and long, wavy hair in a ponytail.

"She is a swim coach, I seem to remember. And a high school teacher…I think? But-" She trailed off.

"But what?" Danielle asked, suddenly feeling uneasy.

"She's not doing too well, I'm afraid. Her report says that she has an autoimmune condition. A respiratory disease. She is currently undergoing quite intensive therapy at the DYAD institute in the States." She said, her face falling.

"Autoimmune?"

"Yes, it means, her immune system is attacking itself. There is not much they can do. But they are trying."

"Oh, gosh." Danielle sighed, her eyebrows furrowing into a truly sympathetic expression. She was imagining how she would feel if she was faced with such a terrible thing as that, knowing that there may be nothing the doctors could do for her. And she didn't even know the truth about herself. Who was really treating her.

"It seems," She paused. "That Katja Obinger is showing symptoms of the same illness."

Danielle felt uneasy at Delphine's use of medical terms. It was as if she was part of the DYAD project again.

"The blood. She was coughing up blood." Danielle whispered.

Delphine nodded.

"Yes. I think that was it,"

"Do you think she knows how serious it is? Should we tell her?"

"I'm sure she has some kind of idea. I don't want to worry her if we know there's nothing they can do."

Danielle nodded, and her face seemed to become lost in thought.

"It's 10 to 9, you know." She reminded her friend. Danielle was late for _everything_.

"I can't go now –"

"This isn't going anywhere," She said, closing the lid of the laptop. "We'll talk about it when you get home."

"Are you coming with me?"

"No, I'm going to try and get some sleep I think. It can't be good to feel like a zombie all day," She laughed sleepily.

"Okay, bye then." Danielle said, kissing her on the cheek, and leaving her hand on her shoulder until she walked away. Delphine got a glass of water, and left back up to her room. Well, it _had_ been worth it.

Danielle came back some hours later. She thought she wouldn't bug Delphine while she was sleeping, and had gone to the library for a couple of hours to read up on some theory, her battered old phone feeding her Mozart through tangled headphones. While she was there, she had bumped into Greg and James, and their familiar smiles and scents had made Danielle realise how much she missed them. To Danielle, her roommates symbolised her life when it was carefree and happy, before she had known anything at all about her background. She had moved out only after she met Delphine, and she missed their dynamic sorely. She had lived with them for their first 3 years, though she had been at university for almost 10. Her other roommates had come and gone, but she'd never clicked with them like she had with these two.

"Danielle!" James said, a little over-enthusiastically, which earned a reprimanding glare from the librarian. Danielle had jumped up and allowed herself to be enveloped in a three way hug, which mainly involved Greg and James crushing her in the middle. She laughed; she was so happy to see them. She liked Delphine, but everything was getting so complex lately, and she appreciated the boys and their more straight-forward attitudes.

"Hello, James. Hiya Greg."

"Hey, frizz 'ead," He laughed, his icy blue eyes sparkling. His black hair had grown into even more of a mop, and he had light stubble on his cheeks. Danielle was sure he'd grown a few inches taller over the time she'd been living away.

"I miss you two, you know."

"Ye' only saw me last week. I reckon you'd been at the Jager bombs again. Had these huge sunglasses on an' would barely talk," Greg laughed.

Wha - ?

"What do you mean? I haven't seen you for weeks, Greg."

"Yeah well maybe you were still drunk or somet, but that was definitely you. Unless I'm the one seein' double."

Seeing double. Huge sunglasses. He must've run into Katja. She tried to stifle a laugh. She paused for a moment. Should she tell them?

"No, Greg. That wasn't me." She said suddenly.

"Pfft – then who was it? I saw your face! But you did have pretty good fashion sense,"

Danielle scowled jokingly, she knew her fashion sense wasn't her best feature, but she could never afford to go clothes shopping.

"I – I found out I have a sister," She said quietly.

James eyes widened, and he clapped her on the arm.

"Seriously? Seriously mate?" He exclaimed. "That's awesome."

"H-yeah! That's really cool, Danielle! Wait – is she a twin?"

"M-hm," Danielle nodded, rather sheepishly.

"You mean I was chasing your twin, calling her Danielle the whole time?!"

James cracked up, and slapped Greg on the arm.

"You idiot, mate,"

"Shut up, how was I supposed to know orphan Danielle had a twin sister?"

"Orphan Danielle?" She laughed, shaking her head.

"Oh, sorry," Greg blushed. "You know what I mean,"

"Well, what's she like?!" James urged.

"Well, she was brought up in Germany. She has red hair and she's a model." She sighed, nodding.

"A model, huh? Is she hot?" James whispered, flashing her a cheeky grin.

"Hey!" Danielle smirked, slapping him on the arm. "I'm not answering that. She's my _twin_, James."

"Well I think that's pretty great, Danielle. Congrats," Greg smiled.

"Thank you Greg. At least someone has some basic manners around here," She laughed, raising her eyebrows at James.

He held up his hands, and hunched his shoulders.

"Sorry, sorry. But you say 'model' and I'm instantly thinking, she must be hot. But really she's just you in better clothes?"

"Yes. And she has red hair too. Can't miss her." Danielle sighed. "God, James. You really know how to flatter me, don't you?"

"Naturally." He smiled. "Oh! I forgot. Did you hear that they're pulling Bluestack down?"

"What?!" Danielle exclaimed. That was her home, she had lived there for almost 10 years.

"You didn't know?" Greg asked, his face fallen.

Danielle shook her head, her heart sunk.

"Yeah, they decided after the whole heating escapade that the old place had had one too many problems. Said it wasn't the first time it'd happened."

"No, it happened in my first year too. But they fixed it-"

"Well anyway, they're saying that it's just too old, and there was only us 3 living in it, so it's not gonna affect anyone else," James said, matter-of-factly, though he looked genuinely sad.

"Well where are you two going to live?"

"Wait, why 'you two'? Is your mate really gonnae put you up with her forever? Isn't that her own house?" Greg asked, surprised.

"Yeah, but she – she doesn't mind."

"You've moved on from us, have you?" James joked, though his words cut deep.

"No, no I haven't!" She protested. Although she loved Delphine, there was some kind of familiar comfort she got with being around them; as if they were her cousins, or some kind of family. Staying at Delphine's still felt a little strange, but she was used to it now.

"You just wait, James. They'll be adoptin' a cat together soon as you know," Greg laughed.

Danielle laughed, but she was blushing, hard.

"Wait – you haven't got a cat together have you?" Greg asked.

Danielle couldn't lie, and her blushing made the answer more than obvious.

"Well, it's more Delphine's but –"

"I knew it!" Greg said, smiling, though not unkindly. "Fournier's going all suburban,"

James smiled, his large dimples appearing in his cheeks, the smile lines hugging his mouth. Danielle blushed up to her ears.

"Hey! I am not. And anyway, you didn't answer my question. Where are you living now?"

"They had to move us into the 'banlieu'. You know the shitty accomodation that's like 20 minutes' walk away?" James sighed.

"I didn't know you'd moved! How long have you been there?"

"Couple'a months." Greg shrugged. "It's alright, it's pretty much like Bluestack. Bit shabby, but pretty homely once you get James' piles of beer cans and clothes strewn everywhere."

"Nothing's changed, then?" She laughed.

Greg shook his head, laughing along with her.

"I miss living with you two, but-"

James shook his head. "We understand, Danielle mate. You want to live with a girl, it's fine. You've had enough of us for 3 years."

Danielle shook her head and smiled. "I'm sorry I haven't seen you for a while. I've been really – busy."

Greg nodded understandingly.

"Nah, it's fine. You've had your hands full,"

Danielle nodded in agreement, smiling. "See you both around. You'll have to come over some time."

"Or you can come stay at ours. There's a spare bed." James shrugged.

"Yeah," Danielle agreed spontaneously. "Yeah I will, thanks,"

"Okay, seeya round then, kid." James said, picking her up off the floor in his strong arms. She knew he did it on purpose to fluster her. That and he enjoyed the fact that she had no other choice but to fling her arms around his neck. He was such a narcissist. But that was hard to remember when his warm smile was directed her way.

"Get off, James," She laughed, slapping his shoulder.

"Bye Greg," She kissed him on both cheeks, and waved them off as they left the library.

Then she packed up her books and made for home. Delphine should be awake by now, and no one had fed ChouChou. She laughed at herself. 'Fournier's getting all suburban'. Maybe it was true.


	21. Chapter 21

The girl sped down the heat baked streets, dust billowing up in clouds beneath the wheels of her red vespa. She dug the heels of her dirty black converse into the deck of the scooter as she revved the handles further forward, her black and red plaid shirt billowing out behind her, over a thin black vest top. She squinted her eyes in the bright sunlight of the morning, tapping her fingers frustratedly on the handlebars. She had ridden straight into a gridlock, cars blaring their horns invasively. The girl whipped around and gave the driver behind her a death glare. It was far too early in the morning for that. Her straight black hair stuck irritably to the back of her neck, where it was squashed against her skin by her white, red and green helmet.

The man in the car behind continued to slam his palm into the steering wheel, the horn sounding for 10 seconds at a time.

"Spostarlo!" He craned his head out of the window, directing it at Aryanna. (_Move it!)_

She couldn't move anywhere, there were cars coming into the jam at all directions. She checked her watch. It was getting too late.

"Chiappe!" (Move your ass!) He shouted again, when she didn't turn around. She sighed. She knew his type. He wanted retaliation.

A tiny opening came up between two cars and she thought she'd take it. Sticking a finger up, and turning around, she yelled

"Stronzo!" (Arsehole!) And made her way between the tight gap between one battered light blue car, and another, more expensive looking sports car.

She revved the handles carefully, before squeezing through the gap and speeding off down the side of the traffic jam, veering onto the bumpy pavement when there was no room on the road.

Cars beeped at her and shouted insults. She knew she *technically* shouldn't have done that, but hey, she was late for work. She revved the handles harder, and eventually got to the restaurant. She parked up and kicked the stand out, locking it in place. Rushing in through the staff door, she pulled off her helmet, her hair sticking up with the static, and swiped her card into the slot.

"Hey! Ary's here," One girl shouted, busy loading plates up onto the counter.

"Ary's here," Another man shouted to the rest of the kitchen.

"Sorry I'm late, guys. I was held up." She announced, sighing and running a hand through her hair. "Just give me a minute,"

"No prob, chef. We're doing okay without you," The girl grinned, stirring a large pan.

Aryanna laughed, narrowing her eyes, and opened the door to her cool, air conditioned office. She slung down her sweaty helmet, and collapsed into her computer chair to compose herself before scrubbing up. Just as she did, she felt her phone vibrate in her back pocket.

She leant to one side and pulled it out of her jeans, looking at the unknown number curiously. She slid the green box to the right to answer the call, and lifted it up to her ear.

"Pronto?" She asked curiously. She couldn't sound too impatient. Often she got phone calls from critics or customers who had somehow found her phone number on the internet.

"Allo? Is this Aryanna?" A French-sounding voice sounded.

"Si. Uh – who is speaking, please?" She asked, immediately switching to English with a heavy Italian accent.

"Oh – sorry. My name is Danielle Fournier –"The line went a little quiet. "I – I might have some information regarding your family background."

Aryanna's heartbeat picked up.

"Oh? What do you mean?" She asked quietly.

"Well, I am an orphan – I was brought up adopted, but – I recently found that I may have a sister."

Aryanna breathed shakily. She wasn't going to say what she thought she was going to say…?

"I did some research, and…I found your name." She finished.

"Is this a joke?" She asked, hoping that it really wasn't. She had dreamed about this moment her whole life.

"No – at least, I hope not. You are Aryanna Giordano? The chef in Rome?"

"Si," She said in a small voice. "Sorry, who are you again?"

"My name is Danielle. I am a music student at the Conservatoire de Paris."

Aryanna's end of the phone went quiet now.

"Wow," She breathed. "So, you might be my sister, or…?"

"As far as I know," Danielle replied, the smile returning to her lips. This just didn't stop getting better. She loved Aryanna's Italian accent, and was anticipating how she was going to take the news.

"Can I see you sometime, then?" Aryanna ventured, pressing the phone close to her ear.

"H- yes!" Danielle exclaimed. "I mean, that would be great. If you want, my sister said she would pay for you to come to Paris."

"You have another sister?" Aryanna gasped.

"Yes, I also found her when I was doing some digging. It seems we have been separated somewhere along the way."

"Per carità," (you've got to be kidding) Aryanna whispered, covering her smile with her hand. "And did you say she would _pay_ for me to come to Paris?"

"Yes, she – she has enough money. She very much wants us all to be together for the first time."

"Okay then, I would love to. Where abouts will we meet?"

"How about the concert hall, in my university? It's nice and grand and - private, so no one will bother us in there." She suggested.

Aryanna exhaled audibly. "Okay then. I will see about getting time off work. But I am the boss so it shouldn't be too difficult."

"Okay then, I will let Katja know and then I'll send you some details."

"Okay," She sighed. "Wow. Thank you,"

"I am excited to see you," She said genuinely.

"Me too," Aryanna said back, her heart jolting. She bit her lip, and waited for her sister to end the conversation. She needed time to consolidate what she had just heard.

"Au revoir,"

"Ciao," She said, before hanging up, and slouching back in the tall leather chair. She pushed off on the ground and tucked her knees up to her chest, the desk chair spinning as much as her head was. A beaming smile spread across her face, and she couldn't stop shaking her head, and uttering things to herself in amazement.

Things like this usually only happened in dreams.

**AN: Aw, Aryanna is my little ray of sunshine. She's like a top class chef and she's only like 27. And she always wears casual clothes, even to work and is just generally a lil beautiful person *sniff* review if you would!TY!**


	22. Chapter 22

"Ja?" Janika picked up the phone. She nodded as she spoke curtly, blinking with each 'm-hm' she offered. Her hair was scraped up in a stylishly messy bun on the top of her head, and she wore a tight black dress which hugged her slim, though muscular figure.

As soon as she hung up the phone, it rang again, and she answered again with the same curt politeness. A queue of customers were beginning to accumulate in front of her. Of all the days to be understaffed! She held the hold button while she addressed one old English couple.

"Yes, yes of course. I will find you a spare room key and that will be sorted right away," She smiled quickly, before re-answering the phone. "Verzeihung. Ja. Ja."

She hung up the phone once again, and noticed the line of customers becoming increasingly frustrated. She looked to her right, to Freidrich, the only other receptionist available, who was constantly greeting and helping the streams of lodgers filing out of the line his way.

The phone rang, and the sound had begun to deeply irritate Janika, who had to constantly pick it up and put it down.

"Hallo. Zingler Ski Resort, how can I help?"

"Allo. Could I speak to the manager please?"

"Yes, I am the manager." Janika said, trying to hide the impatience in her voice. 'Could I speak to the manager' was never a good thing.

"Janika?"

Janika was taken aback at the use of her first name, and furrowed her brow slightly.

"Yes, I am Ms. Zingler. Who is speaking, please?" She shifted her weight to one leg, and held up a finger to insinuate 1 minute to the old, white haired man in front of her who was sighing audibly.

"My name is Danielle Fournier. I am sorry to distract you from your work but I think I may have some information that might be of interest to you."

"Concerning what, may I ask?"

"Your family background," The voice came.

Janika swallowed, and bit her lip.

"Hold on," She said, hanging up the phone. "Amelie, I'm going to need you to take over for a minute-"

"But I have –"

"Amelie," She raised her eyebrows. "I have a call. I will be back in a moment."

Janika walked briskly to her office out the back of the reception desk, and sat down as she picked up the phone again.

"My family background? What do you mean by this?" She asked carefully. She stared at the picture of herself and her adopted parents on the wall; a picture of a hiking trip they took up into the mountains when she was a child. She had always known that she may one day come into contact with information about her real family, but had never really allowed herself to entertain the idea.

"I am an orphan, and lately I have been doing some research to see if I could find anything out about my biological family."

"What does this have to do with me?"

Danielle raised her eyebrows. This one was tough.

"Well, I found that I may have a sister. Under your name."

Janika breathed shakily, covering her forehead with her palm. A flutter of excitement awakened in her stomach, but she forced herself to push it aside.

"It is possible, I suppose."

"You are an orphan too?"

"Yes," Janika said quietly, still staring at the framed photograph on her wall. "But wait. Just so I know this is real, tell me about yourself."

"Well, my name is Danielle and I'm a music student at the Conservatoire de Paris –"

"What do you play?"

"First violin." Before she had chance to breathe, Janika fired another question.

"Who is your favourite composer?"

"Mozart," She said. "I have a lot to thank Austria for."

Janika smiled dryly. Mozart had always been her favourite too. The French surely knew how to charm. Perhaps she had chosen him purposefully, because Mozart was Austrian?

"Which concerto?"

"Ooh," Danielle paused, her voice cracking in excitement. "Ooh, that's hard. Probablement Violin Concerto No. 2 – you know, the one – K 211. I think it's in D...? I love the changing dynamics and the full sound they create," Danielle sighed.

"Mm," Janika paused, satsified. "I always preferred Concerto No. 1 myself. Though I understand your choice. The dynamics are particularly – expressive. Okay. I trust what you say is true. But what now?"

"Would you like to meet up? My sister will pay for your trip to Paris."

"There is another sister?"

"Oui, I found her also when I was researching us."

"There is no need to pay for my journey. I am completely capable. But I would like to meet with you, ja."

"Okay then, I will just sort out a date sometime in the next week or so and I will let you know."

"Ja. Okay. That would be good."

"Okay, à bientot then. It was nice speaking to you."

"Yes, you also. Tschüs." (_bye)_

Janika hung up the phone, brushed herself down, and made her way back to the reception desk, with a ready smile. Well, work stopped for no one.

**AN: Hey guys! Thank you so much to ****_yoursonly_**** and ****ninacastillo113097****for your uber kind reviews! They honestly brightened up my day. (I am adjusting to this fic not being so popular as my previous one and it's so nice to know youre enjoying it) So anyway I decided to upload some more tonight****to say merci :3 Haha I'm glad you both liked the Cosima inclusion, i was so excited about that idea when i first thought of it lol and i completely agree. More than one delphine would probably be enough to wipe out the entire clone club. so i wont go writing Cormier clones just yet hahah! Gosh ty honestly if there's anything that'll motivate me its kind words from you lot. Here is Janika Zingler, enchantée**


	23. Chapter 23

Danielle left the house, and stood momentarily on the front step, looking up at Delphine. Delphine simply put a hand on her shoulder, and nodded, offering an encouraging smile. They strode down the path, and linked arms once they got out into the road, huddling together for warmth in the chilly April breeze.

"They are all using separate entrances?"

Danielle smiled. "Yes, I picked the concert hall just _because_ it has so many different ways to get in. Then hopefully we'll all meet at the same time. I told them to come at 3 _on the dot_."

Delphine laughed and shook her head.

"Tu es une fille intelligente, Danielle." She said, hugging her arm closer to her, and shivering. *(you are an intelligent girl)

Danielle sighed deeply as they got closer to the main concert hall door.

"I'm glad you're here, Delphine." She said, not looking away from the large door. The others were using various backstage doors, and she and Katja would use the main ticket entrance.

Danielle walked in slowly to the concert hall, letting go of Delphine's arm gingerly. Delphine squeezed her hand, before letting her go in front. She smiled as she watched her friend. She was evidently very nervous, and her shoulders were hunched up a little apprehensively. She wore her oversized duffle coat, the sleeves hanging well over her palms, and a short tartan skirt with black leggings and a blue patterned jumper.

They both walked into the hall, where they each spent a lot of time every day. At that exact moment, Katja came up behind her, a slight shadow cast over her familiar features, and the two backstage doors opened, casting light into the dim venue.

Katja nodded to Danielle, and they both walked into the middle of the hall, side by side. As the two new clones walked in, their faces suddenly froze in shock. They were both staring at Danielle and Katja, before noticing each other.

"Merda," Aryanna whispered.

"Shieze,"

"Sheize," Katja said, gaining attention from Janika, who noticed her German accent as opposed to her own Austrian twang.

"Merde,"

Delphine gasped, from the back of the room, where nobody had bothered to notice her presence. "Merde,"

Aryanna, Danielle presumed; the one wearing a black beanie over her shoulder length hair, looked like she was about to faint, and gripped one of the chairs to support herself.

Their eyes all kept flickering from one to another, and Janika looked like she hadn't taken a breath the whole time. Aryanna breathed deeply, and stared at Danielle and Katja in front of her with her eyebrows deeply furrowed, her mouth hanging open.

"'Allo," Danielle began shakily. "I'm the one you spoke to on the phone."

Aryanna's tanned skin had grown pale, and she was blinking, hard, and furrowing her brow. Janika's face had frozen completely.

"What - is - this," She gasped.

"E questo un sogno?" Aryanna whispered, looking as though she were about to keel over. "It's a dream, no?"

Danielle walked over to Aryanna, who was still leaning heavily on the chair, and offered her hand. "Aryanna, I'm Danielle." She smiled, tears almost welling up in both their eyes. "It's not a dream. This is _real_,"

Aryanna breathed out, and nodded, her brown eyes wide. She took Danielle's cold hand in her own, and immediately pulled her into a hug. It was strong, and heartfelt, and Danielle could feel her irregular breathing on her neck. She kept murmuring things to herself in Italian. "Dio mio, Dio mio." (oh my God)

She pulled out, and stared straight into Danielle's eyes, shaking her head, allowing a small smile to spread across her face. Danielle smiled, and said "It's okay," before heading over to Janika. Katja then introduced herself to Aryanna, who looked a little awestruck at Katja's fur trimmed leather jacket and wide black hat.

"Hello, uh – Katja. Thank you for … paying for my journey," She stuttered politely, offering her hand.

"No problem," Katja shrugged, smiling.

"Hello, Janika. I'm Danielle." She said, offering her hand.

Janika took it, her solemn face hiding the fact that she was completely and utterly overwhelmed. Her chin was trembling, but she managed to hold it together, and nodded politely in return.

"Are you okay?" Danielle asked carefully.

Janika nodded unsurely, before breaking down, her face contorting with emotion.

Delphine watched amazedly from the back of the hall. This was not something you would get to see every day. And it was so emotional to watch. How they were all the same, but dealt with the situation in completely different ways.

Danielle was a little more composed; she had seen all their faces before, and had done so much research with Delphine that she had become accustomed to the utter bizarreness of it all. Her shyness seemed to have dropped, and she was just in complete compassion for the other clones, who did not know what to do with themselves. Katja strutted around confidently, though it was easy to tell that she was overjoyed with having found 3 new sisters. Janika just didn't stop crying; it was hard to tell what she was feeling. Aryanna, on the other hand, with her bright eyes and ready smile, was slowly coming to grips with what she was seeing. And they hadn't heard the worst of it yet.

"Are we all sisters?" Aryanna asked finally, taking a seat. "What is that – quadruplets? Separated at birth?" She tucked her legs up to her chest, her worn out black converse on her feet.

"Janika, you might want to take a seat too," She suggested. Janika looked doubtful, but Danielle insisted. "No, really."

"So the thing is…" She waved frantically to Delphine, who jumped up from her seat and hurried over. She smiled and waved sheepishly. Aryanna smiled back warmly, but Janika just looked on moodily, with a blotchy, tear tracked face. "Well firstly, this is Delphine. She's my friend, but she's also the reason we're all here. In more ways than one."

Delphine blushed a little, and laughed.

"Firstly, yes we are genetically identical. Like twins - or quadruplets would be. Uhm, Delphine - is part of an institute called the DYAD. She is a scientist assigned to monitor a human genetic identical - me."

Janika looked deeply confused, and sat up in her seat. Aryanna furrowed her brow, and fiddled with her threadbare laces.

Delphine continued, with a nudge of encouragement from Danielle.

"In 1974, a project called Project LEDA was set up, which was run by the best scientists in the world, to try and see if they could produce human clones. Many were sent away as babies when the system failed, some smuggled and adopted in Europe, others kept close under the watchful eye of the DYAD institute."

Janika went pale all of a sudden. Aryanna blushed bright red.

"So, to cut the story short, we're clones." Danielle concluded. "I brought you here because I wanted you to know,"

Aryanna laughed a little, before her face fell, seeing Danielle and Delphine's matter-of-fact expressions.

"Are we – uhh – lost in, uh traduzione? – Translation?" She smiled, hoping they were.

"No," Danielle shook her head. "I think 'clone' means the same in all our languages."

"We are – klones?" Janika gasped. "No way. That is not possible. We are – as you said – quadruplets, separated at birth, ja?"

Katja shook her head.

"I am afraid not. We are the products of a biological experiment. We are genetically identical - clones of each other."

Suddenly, Janika laughed, and Aryanna's frown broke into a nervous smile.

"This is a good joke, ja? I don't blame you for taking the opportunity for a prank like this, but don't confuse me anymore. We're just sisters!"

Aryanna relaxed a little. It would have been a tempting prank if _she_ had been the one to find 3 other identical sisters. Clones! Who would have thought it? But the solemn, dreadful expressions of Danielle, Katja and Delphine in front of her stopped her from feeling totally relieved.

"It's not a prank," Danielle said quietly.

Janika's cynical smile was wiped from her face. Danielle's deep brown eyes seemed to be begging her to believe what she was saying.

"So – we are all the same – we are," Janika breathed, her heart hammering. "the same person."

"No," Aryanna piped up, not looking up from her shoes. "We might be the same – genetically," She began, her lip trembling. "But not in here, no?" She tapped her heart. "We are all our own people."

"Yes, and that is what you need to remember," Delphine said. She was afraid to speak; she felt she had no place to – she was the betrayer, but she wanted desperately to help them.

Janika's gaze snapped up from the floor.

"And what about you? What did she say about you? You are scientist, ja? You _monitor_ her?"

"I work for the DYAD, yes. I give samples to them. I used to feed information to them that Danielle disclosed to me in confidence." She looked down. "I am not proud of it. But now I am working on her side – your, side. I hacked the DYAD database to find your records so that Danielle could finally get the chance to meet you all."

"Which means –"Danielle said, in a manner more authoritative than Delphine had ever seen her display. "That if a _word_ of this got out, Delphine would lose her job, and we would _all_ suffer the consequences." She pleaded with her eyes, as if imagining what would happen. "Nobody knows what they would do to us if they found out we were all self aware. That's never supposed to happen, right Delphine?"

"Oui. Jamais." Delphine agreed, nodding sheepishly.

"Will everybody promise that they won't tell a soul – please?" She pleaded, her face contorted with worry.

Aryanna's frown broke, and she smiled, nodding.

"Si, certo,"

Janika's face hardened, but she nodded her head, clenching her jaw. Katja simply smiled. They had already been through all this, and Katja was like Danielle's right hand woman. Well, second to Delphine, of course.

Danielle heard footsteps coming into the hall, and whipped around wildly, her panicked gaze meeting with Delphine's. Delphine instantly jogged towards the back of the hall, and peered around the wall carefully.

She bumped straight into Mme. Bereaud and 3 students, whom Delphine recognised to be flautists.

"Oh! Bonjour – Delphine." Mme. Bereaud greeted. "What are you doing here? Rehearsal was cancelled this morning. It's just flute sectionals. You won't find Danielle here today."

"Oh!" Delphine laughed. "No – yes! I know, I just – "She leaned on one leg, blocking their entrance, and waved frantically with her other hand behind the wall to Danielle.

**AN: This was ****_so_**** hard to write. How is one supposed to know how it would feel to be told one is a clone?! Like i had to get in the mindset and it was harddd! Hope you enjoyed it. Also now you know how to say sh1t in 3 different languages! Yaaayyy**


	24. Chapter 24

"Okay, everybody, come on! Back out through the fire door. Come on. They can't see us," She urged, ushering everybody out of the door in front of her. "Come on!"

Aryanna turned around, and Danielle couldn't mistake the look of excitement in her eyes as they rushed out of the door, and shut it carefully behind them. Delphine leaned around the wall to see the door closing, and smiled to Danielle's conductor, letting her through.

"Ohh, okay. I really hope it turns up. The Bach is my favourite."

"Thank you, Delphine!" Mme Bereaud said gratefully, putting a hand on Delphine's arm. "I'll keep looking, just for you. A demain!"

"Oui, à demain," Delphine sighed, walking the other way, and out of the hall. The flautists regarded her curiously. They all thought she was strange enough for attending their rehearsals every day, and they had all been there to see her slay Philippe in the drum battle. If they admitted it, part of them were jealous of her.

Delphine jogged around the side of the concert hall, skirting the brick wall all the way around to the back fire door. She greeted the 4 clones breathlessly, and offered a smile to Danielle.

"Do you think – everyone would be more comfortable – at home?" She breathed, putting a hand on Danielle's shoulder. "Would that be okay with everyone?"

Aryanna nodded enthusiastically.

"Yes, of course!"

Janika and Katja talked amongst themselves in a babble of German. Aryanna felt a little left out – she was the only Italian speaking person in their group. She joined up with Danielle and Delphine at the head of the group and followed them to their home.

"This is all so strange, uh?" She began. She walked with her feet turned in a little, the same way as Danielle did, Delphine noticed. A thin blue and black plaid shirt hung over a black vest top, and she wore black leggings tucked into her converse. She wore a black beanie on her head, as if that were the only piece of clothing she owned for temperatures below 20 degrees.

"Oui, but you're handling it well," Danielle reassured. "Trust me,"

Aryanna's phone rang, and her smile suddenly dropped. She pulled out the phone and stared at the screen, her jaw jarring in fear. She didn't hang it up, but just replaced it in her back pocket. Danielle noticed that her hands had begun to shake a little, and she had suddenly gone quiet.

"Are you okay, Aryanna?" She ventured carefully.

"Y- oh yes. I am fine. It's just –"The phone ringing stopped. "Work – I didn't want to answer it while I am here. But if I hang up they will know I am ignoring them."

Danielle nodded, but she looked to Delphine, who also looked dissatisfied. They were silent for a few moments, before the phone rang again. A sickening pang gripped Aryanna's stomach, and she closed her eyes briefly.

"Are you sure everything is okay?" Delphine asked, as they came up to the house.

Aryanna nodded, though her eyes were wide with fear, and her warm smile had dropped from her face.

Delphine unlocked the door, and let the 4 'Danielles' into their house. ChouChou immediately ran up to Danielle, who picked her up in her arms and hugged her tight.

Janika sneezed violently.

"Oh, I forgot about you, you're the little probleme in a house with 4 potentially allergic guests." Delphine laughed. "Danielle was allergic to ChouChou too. But she is pretty much immune now. It's okay, we can put her outside for now." Delphine said, taking the cat from Danielle, their hands brushing. Delphine smiled proudly at Danielle. She was handling this well. Delphine ushered them all into the kitchen as she opened the patio door and dropped an non compliant ChouChou into the cold garden.

They all sat down around the table, and Delphine made coffee for everyone while the clones chatted amongst themselves.

"I was thinking that we should have some kind of code." Katja began, running a hand through her short red hair. "A code to use every time we pick up the phone, every time we meet, every time we contact each other, to make sure we are safe to speak about - things."

Danielle nodded, and Aryanna agreed. Janika sat with her arms folded, and shrugged her shoulders.

"Like – a riddle?" Danielle asked.

Aryanna had gone quiet, and her gaze was lost as she stared down at her chipped black nail varnish.

"Ja – I came up with One, I'm a few because –" she gestured around the table – "haben sie irgendwelche ideen, Janika?" ( do you have any ideas Janika?)

"Nein. This is stupid. One phrase isn't going to keep us safe from any of this."

"- No family too," Delphine added suddenly, before blushing and returning to making the coffee. "Sorry,

"Well, it rhymes." Danielle said, hoping to make her feel better.

"Ja. Then 'who am I?' to make it a question. One, I'm a few, no family too, who am I?" She concluded, smiling at the ring it had to it. Danielle nodded, impressed.

"But what's the answer?" She asked.

"Hmm," Katja murmured, furrowing her brow in thought.

"I am you," Aryanna said, not looking up. She smiled, a little weakly. "That rhymes too, huh Delphine?"

They laughed. Even Aryanna, whose face was still pale and lost in worry.

Her phone rang again. Some loud, cheerful Italian pop song vibrating from her back pocket.

"Aryanna –"Danielle prompted, forcing her to look into her eyes. "If it's bothering you, turn it off." She sensed that there was something a lot more sinister than work going on, by the pale hue on her brown skin.

"I – can't." She choked. The phone continued to blare what used to be Aryanna's favourite song. Now it made her sick with fear as she drew it out and placed it down in front of her. Everybody in the kitchen went quiet, and Delphine stopped stirring the cups to turn around to see Aryanna's phone vibrating; moving across the table. Everybody's eyes were fixated upon it.

Nobody touched the buttons, but a voice crackled through. Aryanna gasped, and the air went cold.

"Dirty copy copy. Come out, I will find you eventually. I want to meet you. I want to bring you to the light."

Aryanna felt as though she was going to be sick, and flushed red up to her ears. Her head buzzed and span, and she grabbed her hair in her hands. Nobody made a sound until they were sure the caller had hung up.

"Mein gott," Katja whispered.

A text buzzed through this time.

'I know you hear me. You are bad sheep. You are just the first. The others will be soon.'

They all read it. And somehow, they all knew exactly what was going on.

"Someone's coming for us," Janika whispered, nodding shakily.

Delphine hurried over and read the text.

"Oh, petit chou, are you okay?" Delphine asked, kneeling down beside Aryanna. She took Aryanna's shaking hands in her own and sought her eyes. Aryanna was drawn into Delphine's compelling gaze, and sought solace in her words. "Listen. You don't need to be worried. This threat – they must know about the clones, but – the DYAD have a lot of security measures they can take. You are in good hands."

"No!" Janika piped up. "You can't tell the DYAD about this. How can _you_ tell them? You were never supposed to have come into contact with us at all. Aryanna will have to tell them herself."

"How – can I do that?" She whispered, her lip quivering. Delphine still held onto her hands and squeezed them encouragingly.

"You – you have a monitor, who is there to protect you. Like I am to Danielle." She glanced around at the whole table. "You all do,"

"What?" Aryanna gasped. "Who?"

Delphine closed her eyes, and nodded. "I will go and get my file."

Delphine jogged upstairs, suddenly feeling like she was being watched. The phone call had shaken her too. She hurried down the stairs, and showed Aryanna what she had handwritten from the database.

"Aryanna Giordano

Chef – Giordano's

Monitor – Marcello Traditio"

Aryanna touched the paper with her fingers, and traced her fingertip over her monitor's name. A shaky, empty breath left her lips.

"Marcello," She whispered.

"I'm sorry," Delphine said compassionately, sensing that this must be a huge blow for the poor girl.

"Who is mine?" Janika asked abruptly. "I bet it's Amelie, that little –"She paused, as her eyes fell on the sheet. "No." She shook her head. "No, this isn't right."

Katja put a hand on her arm, and smiled reassuringly. "It's okay. My monitor is someone close to my heart also. There is nothing we can do."

Janika laughed, and pulled her arm away. "Nein. Just because your boyfriends betrayed you doesn't mean mine has too. Mika wouldn't do this to me. Do you even have any evidence?"

Delphine hated to put her down, destroy her hope, but it was more dangerous if she went on believing her boyfriend was innocent.

"His name was registered on the DYAD's database as your monitor." She said softly.

Janika shook her head, her nostrils flaring, taking long, shaky breaths.

"I – I don't-" She said, her voice trailing off.

The clones all sat around the table, their faces fallen. Holes bored into their lives where and day ago there was none. Now the people they loved were nothing to them. Traitors and liars; that was all. To Aryanna, trust was everything. And she'd given Marcello all of hers. She had allowed herself to be a little less defensive for once - and look where it had gotten her.

**AN: Scary times guys. But coffee with the euroclones around a table is a pretty beautiful thing. Ugh i wish we had got to know them even a bit. Poor Aryanna, that must be terrifying bless her. I hate reminding myself that i have to kill these characters off. Such is OB fic lyf. Please review if you're interested/scared about what'll happen next! I love to know your thoughts!**


	25. Chapter 25

**AN: one use of stronger language later, i just wanted to say eff this! and then i effed it all up. in other words, beth childs is on the scene, and yeah "****According to Art, Beth was ... a bit verbally vulgar." *head roll* yeah. i do my research"**

Delphine set the laptop on the table, and showed them the full database of faces. All the Americans, the Canadians, their fellow Europeans sat down beside them, it was all there.

"Hold on," Katja said. "If Elizabeth," She pointed at the picture. "Is police, she might be able to help us, right? I mean – who would be more invested than protecting us than one of our own?"

Delphine nodded slowly, her brow furrowed.

"I agree, but we can't go letting this out to all of them. It's dangerous for us all."

Katja shook her head. "More dangerous than anonymous phone hack threats? I don't think so. I think it's worth a go."

"But are you prepared to tell her the whole story? You'll have to tell her the whole deal."

Katja nodded. "Ja. I can do it. I want the right protection for Aryanna – for all of us."

Aryanna looked up sheepishly, and smiled, grateful.

"Wait – Katja. Before you do this. There's someone you should see." Danielle said carefully, clicking onto Jennifer Fitzsimmons' picture.

Katja scanned her profile, slowing down as she got to Jennifer's medical report. Symptoms; violent coughing, coughing up blood, chest pain, breathlessness. Suddenly Katja's chest felt tight. Jennifer was undergoing intense treatment; it wasn't sure whether she would make it past the next few months.

Katja nodded, and sat back in her chair. "Then we must speak to Elizabeth now. These things – are a danger to us all. Could this be genetic?"

Delphine nodded. "Yes, I suppose it could. I mean – from what they are saying, it sounds like it might be. But that doesn't mean you will all develop it."

Janika closed her eyes and shook her head, clutching her forehead.

"Das ist ein alptraum," She mumbled to herself. (This is a nightmare,)

"Nein," Katja countered, grabbing her wrist and lowering her hand from her face. "Nein, und wir brauchen euch nicht so sprechen. Wir müssen uns jetzt gegenseitig."

Aryanna and Danielle sat, completely oblivious to what had just been said. Whatever it was, it shut Janika up. Delphine understood, and couldn't agree more. Though she hadn't the right to say it.

"She said that you all need each other now," Delphine murmured to Danielle.

Danielle nodded.

"C'est vrai. If we're going to pull through this, we need each other. We might be fine on our own, but we're stronger together."

Aryanna nodded, and put her hand in Danielle's. She was evidently still very shaken by the phone call.

Katja scribbled down Beth's phone number, and went into the living room to make the call. They all waited nervously in the kitchen, trying to listen to what was being said. The conversation went on for tens and tens of minutes, not that Katja had to worry about phone bills.

She returned back into the kitchen, and met their anxious faces.

"What did she say?" Delphine asked.

"She is taking it well. She said she had some kind of hunch that something was going on already, which is interesting. She never knew it was clones, though. She said she would ring back later once she had got in contact with the others – Cosima, Tony and Alison, I think?"

Delphine forced a smile, though this was all getting completely out of hand. And it could all be traced directly back to her. Leekie could ruin her career. Her life.

**_Night..._**

A couple of hours later, Katja's phone rang again. It was a small Nokia phone in a pink rubbery case, and it had a shrill, nondescript ringtone.

Katja swept up the phone, and answered it quickly.

"Hallo? Ja. Ja. Really? That would be brilliant. Thank you, Elizabeth." She said genuinely. "Ja. I have met them. I am actually here with them all now."

They couldn't make out Beth's response, but they heard something which might have been an explosion of curse words.

Katja laughed. "Ja. Really. We – well, Danielle figured it all out. Say hello, everybody," Katja said, holding the phone out as if a teenager ringing her friend at a concert. "Hello Elizabeth," They all called, Aryanna perking up with the prospect of a bodyguard version of herself. No matter how far away she was, her existence was reassuring.

This time, they _did_ hear Beth's response.

"Holy shit!?" She exclaimed. "Fuck! Hey Euros,"

"Thank you for this Beth. It has been a crazy day for us, too."

"No bother. And like I said, Cosima said she would help. Just get blood and hair samples of all of them and she'll be able to run tests, or some shit. I don't know. I failed science at school. Oh, and she'll need identification too, for filing or something."

"Ja. I'll sort it out tonight."

"Hope you get well soon, kid."

"Danke. Good bye, Elizabeth."

"Just call me Beth. And bye, Katja."

Katja hung up the phone, and relayed what she had just heard.

"Apparently, Cosima – the scientist – said she might be able to help me. Help us – if I can deliver her some blood and hair samples."

Janika lifted a hand to her head.

"You are not touching my hair," She said defensively.

Aryanna just rolled her eyes.

"Janika. You could save her _life_ here."

"Oh, and she said that she would look into who has been ringing you. I gave her your number so she'll be able to try and track the calls. But in the meantime, as Delphine said, alert your monitor and he'll be able to protect you."

"I've never needed him to protect me before." She said glumly. "But I know this time is different. Whoever is out to get us must be dangerous. And they knew about us before _we_ knew about us. So they must be powerful."

Aryanna looked out into the garden, where the night had descended, and the sky was black. She suddenly looked very worried.

Danielle noticed, and put a hand on her shoulder.

"It's okay. You can stay here tonight, if you want. You'll be safe here."

Aryanna smiled, and hung her head a little.

"Thank you. I would appreciate that."

Delphine microwaved the coffees, and set them down in front of the clones. They had all completely forgotten about everything whilst in this crazy spiral of happenings. Delphine grabbed a bottle of amaretto out of the cupboard, and poured a measure into Aryanna's coffee.

"Thought you might need it," She said warmly, pushing the mug towards her.

Aryanna laughed, and thanked her, taking a long drink.

"Mm. Tastes of home."

"So…this – Cosima. She needs blood samples?" Delphine asked.

"Ja, apparently. I think it's worth a try,"

Delphine's eyes widened, agreeing whole heartedly. "Oui oui, of course, of course."

"Well, if you would allow me, I am trained. Phlebotomy was part of my general immunology module last year." Delphine ventured.

Katja, Aryanna and Danielle agreed.

"Ja, I will try anything." Katja nodded.

Janika seemed a little stubborn.

"Janika, this disease – could affect you too," Delphine said gently. "It's best you comply,"

Janika shrugged.

"Fine, but I don't know why any of us are trusting you. You have betrayed your best friend all this time."

"Hey!" Danielle countered, blushing hot. "We have been through all this already. I trust Delphine, and that's all that matters."

Delphine watched Danielle as she defended her. She felt a rush of pride.

"I would like to go back to my hotel soon," Janika said, checking her watch.

"Okay, then I can do you first." Delphine said, before leaving the kitchen to get her medical kit. Janika watched her nervously as she scrubbed up vigorously at the sink. She tied her brown hair back into a low bun, and pulled on some blue latex gloves. "Let's go into the living room. It's more comfortable in there."

Danielle went along. She knew Janika would feel more comfortable with her there, though she would never be the one to admit it.

Janika allowed Delphine to roll up the sleeve of her left arm, and dab the area with an alcoholic swab. She held her arm still as Delphine inserted the large needle. Delphine looked up at her face to wager her pain.

"Is that okay?"

"Ja, just hurry up." Janika hated needles, she always had, but she knew she needed to do this, if not for the others, for herself.

Delphine's rubbery fingertips held the barrel in place as she drew out one vial of blood.  
>"There, that should be enough," She said, easing out the needle gently. She labelled the vial with a marker pen. 'Janika Zingler'.<p>

"Here," She stuck some cotton wool to the puncture hole with surgical tape.

Delphine sterilised her hands and changed gloves, bringing out a new needle. Next she took Katja's blood. Katja had a more no-nonsense, 'didn't feel a thing' attitude, which Delphine admired. She labelled it 'Katja Obinger', and slotted it into a briefcase which had multiple test-tube shaped holes in the casing.

"I always have to have this equipment with me. This is just for safe transport of biological material," She told Katja.

"Thank you, Delphine." She said solemnly. "I will be back in the morning for theirs if you want,"

Delphine smiled, and nodded as she took off her gloves.

"Oui, thank you. I think Aryanna is still a little too…shaken."

Katja nodded, before frowning, and sighing.

"It's all beginning now, isn't it?" She asked, looking up.

"Perhaps," Delphine said solemnly. "But at least you know the truth now,"

"Ja." She sighed. "I know."

Janika and Katja took a cab back to the hotel together, Katja insisting that Aryanna's booked hotel room didn't matter. She said money didn't mean anything, and she just wanted her to feel safe.

Hours later, the three remaining sat in Delphine's living room, the low light setting golden on their faces. They listened to mellow, calming music and chatted animatedly; trying anything to keep their minds from the situation.

Aryanna watched in intrigue as Delphine eased the needle into the inside of her elbow. She didn't flinch, but pressed her feet into the floor with the pain, and took a deep breath.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah," She said, smiling a little weakly.

Delphine sealed and labelled up the tube, and slotted it into the case.

"If you don't mind, I am quite tired," She admitted as Delphine stuck a plaster to the small hole.

"Yes, of course. You can use my room if you like,"

"Would I – I would rather not be alone." She blushed a little. "It sounds stupid, maybe, but –"

"Take my room," Danielle said warmly. "I'll stay with you if you want,"

"Grazie," Aryanna sighed, relieved, and shot them a look of complete gratitude before leaving the living room and taking the stairs.

Delphine sighed, and changed gloves again.

"My last patient," She joked, and extracted a new needle from her medical bag.

Danielle sighed shakily.

"You're not scared, are you?" She asked, surprised.

Danielle's heart hammered in her chest.

"Oui." She admitted. "Je n'aime pas des aguilles," (I don't like needles)

Delphine was a little touched by this. As an immunology student, things like this didn't bother her one bit, but here Danielle seemed vulnerable. She smiled comfortingly, and swabbed her arm with alcohol which left Danielle's skin feeling cold.

"It's okay," She whispered. "I'll be gentle. You've endured worse today," She laughed a little.

Danielle nodded, and laughed nervously, though Delphine's warm smile was helping to ground her. She tucked a lock of her own curly black hair behind her ear, and allowed Delphine to continue. Danielle tried to concentrate on the deep, sensual voice of the male singer which was playing from Delphine's iPod speakers, and the gentle guitar picking pattern. She squinted her eyes and tried to lose herself in the music as the sharp flick of pain jabbed at her skin. She felt the needle be pulled out, and another jolt of pain inflicted her, but she was glad it was over.

Delphine showed her the vial of blood, before labeling it and putting it into its case, fastening the clips triumphantly. She took off her gloves, and sighed, just staring into her friend's troubled eyes.

She finally saw the side to Danielle which she had been bottling up all day. She had had to be the cool and calm one, looking after the others who took the news and events of the day worse than she did. But that didn't mean that it hadn't affected her. Her lip trembled a little, and Delphine was overcome with compassion. She pulled her into a strong hug, and stroked the back of her curly hair gently.

"It's all going to be okay," She whispered. "I promise,"

That night, Aryanna and Danielle took Danielle's bed. She needed the warmth of her sister beside her to comfort her from the raw fear which still sometimes gripped her body. They lay in the almost-darkness, and Danielle listened to her shaky breathing.

"Don't worry, Aryanna." She said softly. "You're safe here, with us."

"I know," She said quietly. "But what about tomorrow, and the next day, when I am back in Roma? What if they find me there?"

Danielle tilted her head on the pillow, and their eyes met, just small black circles in the dark.

"They won't." She urged, her voice low and sleepy. "But you should tell your monitor. It's his job to protect you."

Aryanna sighed, and looked back up at the ceiling, where she had been staring for the past hour.

"Okay," She said, but she wasn't sure she meant it.

"Just get some sleep. Maybe when we wake up it'll all have been a dream,"

"Or a nightmare," Aryanna laughed slightly.

"Ouais," She laughed. "But I am so glad I found you – 3."

"Even Janika?" Aryanna laughed.

Danielle whistled, as if to say 'well…'

"Oui. Even Janika."

"No, she's not so bad. She probably just didn't take today as well as us,"

Then, as if in a nightmare, Aryanna's phone buzzed loudly and lit up the whole room with its garish white glare. Danielle felt Aryanna's heart beat pick up, and she clung onto her suddenly. Danielle wrapped her arms around her protectively, and reached for the phone.

"Oh! Aryanna, it's okay, it's okay, it's Marcello."

Aryanna sat up slowly, terror still etched on her face.

"Hang it up. I don't want to talk to him, Danielle."

"Are you sure? You can tell him –"

"I'm sure. I don't want to think of him anymore. I can tell him when I get home."

Danielle put the phone on silent, and replaced it on the bedside table.

"Okay, if you want. Try and get to sleep. And don't worry, okay?"

"Okay," She agreed, and turned on her side, though her mind was playing tricks and throwing images of hooded men, phone calls and thousands of people with her own face stood in a crowd on the walls of her brain. She grimaced, and tried to push them away.

**AN: my poor lil bby aryanna. im so sorry :'( why does everything have to happen to her?! I dont even know and im the one who's written it! Thank you guest! Your review was so kind, and brilliantly detailed. i'm glad you love aryanna too :3 she is such a cute lil egg isnt she? im sorry for what's about to happen. just close your eyes or something, ok? and oooh thinking ahead! yeah...getting reassigned to cosima ****_might_****just feature later on. good thinking haha! Ty for ur support and to 24/7 for still reading and yeah! Stay tuned (and keep em coming!) BTW I AM SO SORRY if u are german. that was all gobbledygook****wasnt it? i used google translate. i have no german knowledge like i do with french. im sorry**


	26. Chapter 26

Aryanna returned to work the next day; after an early plane journey she took the afternoon shift. Marcello had stormed over to her cluttered apartment, and asked where she had been the day before, why she hadn't been returning his calls.

"I was visiting a friend," She had said, shrugging.

Marcello had noticed the change in Aryanna's usually warm, affectionate way, and he was suspicious.

"Passerotta," He tried, making his way towards her. "I was worried about you,"

Aryanna blushed, and coughed, turning away from him. She didn't want him anywhere near her.

"I can do things without having to tell you," She mumbled, taking a bite into an apple and sweeping up her helmet. "I'm going to be late for work,"

"Of course. I'm sorry. Just – don't leave me like that again, okay?" He slid a hand up her jawline, his smile coming closer and closer to her mouth. She pulled away, and laughed a little, before marching towards the door and holding it open.

"I'm going to be late,"

Marcello furrowed his brow. When had Aryanna ever worried about being late? He watched her warily, as she stood with an impatient look on her usually bright face, one foot keeping the door open. She pulled on her white, green and red helmet, leaving the straps hanging loose for the moment.

Marcello sidled out of the door, trying to gain her eye contact. Her phone began to ring, but he didn't notice her eyes widen with fear, or her legs buckling slightly.

"Aren't you going to get that?"

Aryanna shook her head quickly, and closed the door behind them.

"Do you want me to?" He smirked, reaching round into her back pocket to pull out the phone.

A look of pure anger flashed across her face, and she slapped his arm.

"Just – go away, Marcello. I can't be bothered with this," She exploded, storming down the stairs.

"Aryanna!" He shouted, as she ran down the flights and flights of steps. The sun was burning hot outside already, and the smell of dust and petrol seeped in from the open front doors. "Aryanna!"

Aryanna's heart raced. The phone had stopped ringing, but Marcello was still following her. Her face hardened, and she quickly stormed over to her bike and palmed the key into the ignition. Revving it angrily, and watching Marcello's confused face, she took off, with no hint of remorse.

"Stronzo," She muttered under her breath, watching his reflection in the wing mirrors disappear. _(arsehole)_

She got to work 20 minutes early. She would never normallyhave left the house so early for work, but she did not want to speak to Marcello at all. Not after everything he had done, everything he was still doing. They had been together only a year, but she had fallen in love with his trusting eyes and poetic words, and how he was so different to her. Strange, they had never really had an argument before, even with Aryanna's fiery temper. This was the closest they had got, and Aryanna didn't exactly enjoy being mean to him. But now he was nothing to her.

Aryanna was on night shift, and pulled a white chef coat on over her blue lumber shirt and the same scruffy black converse that squeaked on the shiny kitchen floor whenever she hurried about on a busy shift. She peered through the small circular window into the prestigiously presented restaurant. It looked pretty quiet today. It usually was on mid-week days. Even in the evenings. One customer caught her eye. They didn't seem to be obeying the dress code, with their large parka coat and unkempt frizzy blonde hair. And from the way they were slumped in their chair, Aryanna wondered if they were doing it on purpose.

It got late, and eventually the woman in the parka was the only customer left in the room. She had told them she was the food critic they had supposedly been expecting, before requesting red jelly. She always kept her face hidden with her fluff-trimmed hood, so apparently none of the staff had even seen her face properly.

Gino returned to the kitchen, just as most of the staff were signing off.

"She said she wants to speak to the chef," He told Aryanna, a quick smile glinting. "Hope you get a good review,"

"Thanks, Gino," She said, patting him on the back, and pulling on a chef's hat. Good reviews were the least of her worries.

She noticed him glancing at his watch as all the other cooks left the kitchen, shouting their good-nights.

"Go on," She said jerking her head towards the door. "Seeya tomorrow, though. Bright and early,"

Gino shook his head, smiling. "Thanks, Ary. I won't forget it. But the day I see you bright and early I will eat your hat."

She pulled the large chef's hat further down her head, and hit him on the back of the head with a spatula.

"Go on, spostarlo before I change my mind." (_move it)_

He grinned, and slotted his card into the reader.

"Grazie, Ary. And good luck with the critic. She's a little…strange."

"Doesn't dress like a critic, does she?"

"Nah," He shook his head. "Apparently that's _why_ she dresses like that. To keep her clients unaware. Was forced to tell me when I nearly turned her out for not obeying the dress code."

"Oh," Aryanna shrugged, a little intrigued. "Well, I'll soon find out what the verdict is."

"Sure you can handle closing up on your own?"

"Of course. I'll be fine. A domani," (_seeya tomorrow)_

"A domani," He smiled, and took his coat over his shoulder as he left the kitchen.

Aryanna took a deep breath, straightened her hat, and entered the kitchen. Suddenly an uneasy feeling washed over her as she approached the crazy haired critic. She wasn't sure why; they had never made her nervous before.

The woman dropped her hood, and smiled a little sickly; cocking her head to one side.

"Hello," She said sinisterly, twisting the spoon in her mouth to eat the last bit of jelly.

Aryanna gasped, lifting a hand to her mouth.

"Un altro," She whispered. "Dio mio." She paused. "How did you find me? What is your name?" (_another one, oh my God)_

"My name is Helena. I have come to bring you to the light," She said, ending on a small smile.

Aryanna's stomach twisted as she recognised the voice and phrase which had haunted her phone for the past couple of days. "Bring you to the light," could not be a good thing. Not when she had that look in her reddened eyes, or that sinister smile set on her lips.

"No," She whispered, walking backwards a little. "Please,"

"It's okay, sestra." She said, stifling a burp. "You are just a copy. You are not real."

"I am real." Aryanna said, her voice trembling. "Why – would you want to do this? We are the – same,"

"We are NOT the same," She shouted, slamming her fist on the table, causing Aryanna to jump out of her skin. The frightening calmness of the woman's expression had vanished, and was replaced with feral anger.

Aryanna walked backwards slowly, as if from a lion, not wanting to make any sudden movements for fear she would attack.

"I know it's hard -" She said, holding out a trembling hand as she backed away. "It's hard for all of us - but - we can get through this. We can _help_ you, if you want. We need each other in this." She swallowed, her throat painfully dry. "This - this won't solve anything,"

Helena merely shook her head, not making eye contact, but avoiding it like a guilty child.

Aryanna was panicked. She knew this wasn't getting her anywhere.

"Just - please – don't hurt me. Please."

The woman got up, and made a move towards her.

"It will not hurt. You are bad sheep. I make you good."

Aryanna froze on the spot; her jaw jarred in fear. She looked straight into eyes indistinguishable to her own, their eyeline identically level with one another. She shivered as the woman moved closer to her, pinpricks stabbing hot all over her back and forehead, a shaky gasp leaving her lips.

Helena held her gaze with a calm inevitability in her expression, and the last evidence of fear flashed in Aryanna's caramel eyes, before they glazed over, and could no longer see the beauty of the world which they once did. Her body slumped to the floor; ready smile gone from her face, her warm glow frozen.

"I like you so I make it quick," The woman nodded, and rubbed her hands on the back of her jeans, leaving the restaurant calmly through the front door.

**AN: Sometimes I like Helena and stuff, but I forget that she killed all the Euros. Its so horrible ughhhhhhhhh. Anyway, i didnt want to go into too much detail, and i dont really know how she wouldve done it, but that was ****_sad_****. i am a terrible person for writing thiss D: whyyy**

**RIP Aryanna, ily**


	27. Chapter 27

Danielle sat down at rehearsal, and played instinctively, though neither her mind nor her heart were in it. Delphine hadn't come along; said she had to catch up on some immunology work that she had been neglecting for the past few eventful weeks. Danielle played as though she wanted to leave any minute, just thinking about Aryanna and what may await her. She had only left the previous morning, and she missed her sisters already, even after the little time that she had known them. Danielle was talented enough to get through rehearsal with little effort; letting her subconscious carry the performance, and as soon as it was over, she shrugged on her coat and hurried out of the concert hall back home.

"Any news from Aryanna?" She breathed, swinging the door shut and hanging up her snow-dusted coat.

There was no answer for a beat, and Danielle's stomach flipped almost instinctively.

"Delphine?" She asked again, a little warily.

Delphine sidled around the doorway from the kitchen, and just stared blankly at Danielle, her phone held limply in her hand. Her eyes were wide and her mouth hung open a little, her lips parted.

"What is it? Have you heard from her?" She whispered, her throat suddenly going dry.

Delphine swallowed, and bit her lip, her large brown eyes pained.

"She's dead," She whispered. "She was killed. Last night."

Danielle's heart felt as though it had been wrenched from her body. Her knees shook, and she collapsed to the floor, where she sat with her back slumped on the door, her face contorted painfully. Delphine stumbled over to sit beside her friend.

Danielle felt as if the whole world around her had been sucked from beneath her feet. A huge, empty black void surrounded her thoughts and it was hard to concentrate on rational impulses. She shook her head, and fought the urge to be sick. No. It wasn't true. No. Not after all those phone calls. She had witnessed part of Aryanna's fate. She had told her not to be scared. No, it wasn't true. She was still alive. No.

"Are you sure?" She whispered, her lip trembling.

Delphine turned her head to face Danielle, and nodded, her eyes closed.

"Mon Dieu!" Danielle gasped, clawing a hand through her curly hair.

"I'm so sorry," Delphine whispered, staring into blank space in front of them.

Danielle shook her head, pained tears stinging her eyes.

"Non," She whispered. "Non. Pourquoi? Why us, Delphine?"

Delphine sighed, and shook her head.

"I don't know," She said simply. "I don't know,"

**AN: let me know your thoughts guys! **


	28. Chapter 28

"As I said, Delphine. Investigations are still underway, but you will certainly need to up the security on your subject. Keep closer to her. Insist to go along more often. Make sure you always know where she is. If you need a GPS tracker for her phone, we can sort that out."

"Non," Delphine sighed, running a hand through her brown fringe. "That won't be necessary. We are close enough already."

Danielle shifted in her seat, uncomfortable. She knew this must have been how the conversations went down before she was self-aware too, and Delphine's ease in doing so made her uneasy.

"You do understand, Delphine, that this killer may be on the hunt for the clones in particular. This girl – Aryanna – is not a guilty victim. Why her? Why would she be murdered? It does raise suspicion."

Delphine swallowed. Leekie's harsh, straight-to-the-point words burnt like acid. He didn't even know that she knew of Aryanna's existence, so supposedly it shouldn't even affect her.

"Yes. Well, I will make sure to keep 324b19 safe. I hope you figure it out."

"Yes. Good bye, Delphine."

"Au-voir," She hung up the phone, and looked over to Danielle, who was watching her tentatively, biting her fingernails and sitting on the edge of the couch cushion. She would never admit it, but she hated it when Delphine referred to her as 324b19. But she knew it was all part of the act and they could never be too careful.

"What now?" She whispered.

Delphine shook her head, and downed her glass of whisky, grimacing.

"I don't know,"


	29. Chapter 29

**_some months later..._**

"I just can't deal with this anymore," Janika huffed on the other end of the phone. "Mika hasn't left my side for 2 months - he comes with me everywhere. It's driving me crazy,"

"Just- just hang in there," Katja comforted. "It's for our own safety. My monitor does not leave me alone either. But when I am ready I must leave for Canada. I have to take our samples to the scientist. I am not sure how I will slip away,"

"Ja, but the killer isn't going to come for us now. It has been 3 months since – Aryanna,"

"We cannot be too careful." Katja sighed, and shook her head. "Aryanna. Poor girl. She did not deserve this. And we cannot lose more of us. We need to stick together. Stay strong."

"If the killer came for me I would have no chance anyway," Janika said simply.

"That is exactly the attitude which will get you killed, Janika." Katja reprimanded. "We can survive this if we are careful."

Janika sighed, and sat back in her computer chair. Things were a little quieter in the summer months at the resort. People preferred to spend their time in the sun rather than the snow, so she had a little more free time to talk.

"I hope you are right. Auf wiedersehn,"

"Bye,"

Janika hung up the phone and sighed. It was nice to speak to her sister every now and then, comforting to hear a familiar voice; one that she usually could only hear in her head or coming from her own mouth. She exhaled deeply, and left to the small kitchen in her office to make a cup of coffee. Glancing out of the window, she was greeted with the postcard image of a lush green mountainside, the stationary ski lifts hanging in the air. The distant shape of a wide-winged eagle soared around the top of a snow capped mountain, black against the clear blue sky. The scene reminded Janika of being a child and peering through heavy binoculars with her parents, and a small smile tugged at her lips.

Her nostalgic bliss suddenly faded as her phone buzzed. Mika. Again. She ignored his text, once again asking how her day was going, and made her way back to her desk, just as a customer pushed through the revolving door.

"I would like to book room, please." A woman asked, in a thick Ukranian accent; large ski goggles shielding her eyes, her mouth and nose covered by a scarf. Janika didn't give her a second glance; many people dressed this way to come to the resort.

"Ja, how many people?" She asked boredly, tapping away at her keyboard.

"Just one," She said initially.

"M-hm,"

"I'm a few."

Janika looked up a little confusedly.

"So a family room?"

"No family too." She said, and Janika was sure she was smiling beneath the scarf.

It took her a few panicked milliseconds to comprehend what the woman had just said, and she stood up suddenly, her heart beat racing. She suddenly became aware that the lobby was empty and there were hardly any staff or visitors around.

"How do you-"She whispered, shuffling backwards.

The woman pulled off her goggles, and ripped off her scarf, revealing a face, identical to Janika's own, though with red bags beneath her eyes and sallow, unhealthy looking skin.

"Who. Am. I?" She whispered, smiling, as if she had said something bad. "Hello, copy sestra,"

'Copy?' Janika thought wildly. No. Surely not. Not one of their own. But now she realised that she had heard that voice before. How did she know about their code?

"I'm not – a copy," She breathed, staggering backwards.

The woman advanced, walking behind the reception desk and closer to Janika.

"No, you are bad sheep. Just like the other. Copy chef. Pity. We could have been friends."

The other? Copy chef?_ Aryanna. _

Janika's heart fluttered hysterically when she realised the connection. This woman had killed her sister. This woman _was_ her sister._ This woman was _the same as her.

"What do you want from me?" She demanded, a fiery defiance coming back to her. She took off her heels quickly, and brandished one in her hand.

"I need to give you darkness, so I can have light," She said simply, as if it were completely rational.

"No, no you don't," Janika said, her voice trembling, shaking her heeled shoe out in front of her. "You can have light – without darkness."

The woman laughed disbelievingly, and shook her head.

"No, no."

"You killed Aryanna. She's the same as us!" She shouted, a lump rising in her throat. Aryanna's death had affected her more than she had ever let on to anybody.

"She is not the same. She tried to tell me this also. You are dirty copy, just the same. I am the original."

Janika shook her head, but no words would come. This one was crazy. None of them were the original, but she didn't dare say so. Janika grabbed her phone from the desk discreetly and pressed speed dial.

"Bonjour?" A distant voice called from her hand. "Hallo? Janika? Hallo?"

The woman walked over to Janika, and grabbed her wrist with an iron-tight grip. She lifted her trembling hand up to her own mouth, and noticed the name on the display.

"Hello. Do not worry. You will be next. I will see you soon."

With one deft movement, the phone crashed to the floor, and Janika went with it. Her legs buckled, and her unseeing eyes glazed over, her mouth laying open as her head hit the floor.

Danielle sat in her room in horror. That was the same voice. The voice that had killed Aryanna. Coming from Janika's side of the line. Threatening to come for her. She heard a stone heavy thud on the ground and the deafening silence that followed.

"Delphine!" She ran down the stairs quickly. "Delphine," She held out the phone. "I think Janika –"

Delphine threw her head backwards, sighing deeply.

"Non," She whispered exhaustedly. "Mon Dieu! Non!"

Danielle and Delphine sat in the kitchen and drank most of the day, eventually becoming jolly, a complete contrast to how they were actually feeling. Danielle giggled deliriously, and Delphine laughed brashly, pouring them each another glass. Their drunken haze blocked them from thinking about everything – anything even. A painful, intoxicated state - each time Delphine lifted her hand to pour them another glass was just her will for wanting them both to forget. Eventually, they dragged each other back up the stairs. When Danielle came out from the bathroom, her rosé-tinted view of the world had worn off, and she once again felt sick with grief and overcome with fear. She found Delphine sitting on the edge of her bed, just staring at the floor.

"Can I come in?" She asked carefully, lowering her voice. Her movements were still a little jerky and eyes darted around erratically, but now her hammering heartbeat had nothing to do with the alcohol.

Delphine lifted her gaze from the floor, and looked up at her friend for a few beats, her face expressionless, before smiling sadly, and patting the bed beside her, climbing in beneath the duvet. Danielle got in beside her, and she lay there, just staring up at the ceiling in silence. All she could hear was Delphine's breathing, and smell the strong aroma of alcohol evaporating from their breath.

"I'm scared, Delphine." She whispered, turning her head on the pillow to face Delphine. "They said I was next,"

Delphine turned towards her, and put a palm on her cheek.

"Listen to me," She pleaded, her eyes wide and solemn. "I will _not_ let anything happen to you, _I promise_."

Hot tears burnt Danielle's cheeks, but she was more than glad for Delphine's comforting presence. She noticed she was shaking, her legs making involuntary shudders, crippling pangs of nerves ripping through her stomach. Danielle entangled her fingers in Delphine's brown hair and pressed their foreheads together, as if she needed their connection to be strong. She stared into Delphine's large dark eyes, felt her breath tingling on her skin. She was here, and she would keep her safe.

"It's okay," Delphine soothed, cradling her head gently. "It's okay,"

Danielle felt Delphine's lips press on the top of her head, and let herself drift away, feeling suddenly safe in Delphine's arms. She fell asleep minutes later, a mixture of complete emotional exhaustion and wine gently pushing her eyelids shut. However, Delphine could not sleep. With the alcohol racing around her veins and her mind buzzing excitedly, sleep just would not come. She held Danielle while her heartbeat calmed down, and she succumbed to a peaceful sleep. Delphine didn't know if it really was okay, if anything would actually happen to her friend. But she needed to keep telling her that everything was okay. For them both.

**AN: Sorry**


	30. Chapter 30

"Delphine, what am I supposed to do?" She whispered the next morning, lying awake, staring across to the opposite wall. Delphine still had her arms wrapped awkwardly around her, and her eyelids flickered as she heard Danielle's voice.

"Hm?" She mumbled, licking her dry lips.

Danielle blinked her tired eyes. She had been lying awake for at least an hour, but all the questions had become too much.

"What do I do? I can't leave the house – I can't go home – but I can't stay here. I can't endanger you,"

Delphine sighed, and rubbed her eyes with her fingertips.

"I know," She sighed, furrowing her brow in the early morning light. "But don't worry about me," She smiled slightly. "I don't think you can stay here because – they may know you live here." She grimaced a little. What an awful situation they were in. "It's okay. We will sort something out soon."

Danielle rolled onto her back, and stared at the ceiling again. She felt as though her days were numbered, she was thinking of all the things she had never done, all the things she had always wanted to do, what she could have become, what her future might have held. Now, even if she wasn't killed, she would have to lead a life of hiding and being trailed by various monitors. But all she cared about that was Delphine would be there beside her.

"But where will I go?" She whispered.

"Well, seeing as though term is over now, we could find somewhere safe. I bet Leekie will have somewhere safe for you to spend the summer," She began. Her head was banging with a hangover.

"Will you come?" She asked quietly.

Delphine hesitated for a while, then nodded, a smile crossing her lips. "Ouais. Of course."

She sat up in bed, then hauled herself out. She looked down at her creased clothes; neither of them had got changed for bed the night before. She was wearing her old Habs sweater and a pair of jeans where the waistband had been cutting into her skin uncomfortably all night. She took them off and pulled on some navy jogging bottoms.

"I'll go and make breakfast." She smiled, shrugging. "You take your time. I'll ask Leekie what we should do."

"Merci," Danielle said, though the whole situation was making her feel sick, her head buzzing and having the urge to be sick constantly. Her life was in the balance, and she couldn't even think straight.

Delphine slouched down the stairs, and flipped on the kettle blindly. She picked up her phone from the counter and dialed Leekie with only a small hesitation.

"Aldous? Oui, c'est moi." She said, before realising that she _shouldn't _even know Janika was dead. Luckily, he was just about to tell her. And faking a reaction was almost as painful as the truth itself. It was faux and sickening. "Really? Oh, mon Dieu, non. Oh God. The same killer? Oh my gosh." He carried on to speak about the murder, but Delphine didn't want to know. She just wanted Danielle safe. "Then I want to know what I should do with my subject." She said. "It is no longer safe for her to stay here. They might know she lives here." She articulated with her free hand out of habit. "Ouais, ouais."

"You are beginning to think like us, Delphine." He laughed dryly. "I was about to ring to tell you that we have located a safe house for you both to stay in. It's an old farmhouse in a small village north of Paris. You will be safe to live there over the summer. A car can be sent to take you later today,"

"Ouais, génial, merci." She nodded.

"I trust you can make up a cover story? It's your parents' summer house, you want to show her it? I don't know, you know better than me. Just don't – let on – "

"That she's the next victim of a serial killer? No, I won't." She said dryly, though she hadn't even thought of the problem of this. Danielle wasn't even supposed to know she was a clone. Wasn't that a thought.

Delphine let Danielle know of the plan. She had agreed, nodding, her eyes lost in thought.

"Then I want my parents to come too. They could be in danger as well, and - well, I want to spend some more time with them if - you know."

Delphine shook her head. "If that is what you want. But _nothing_ is going to happen to you, okay? I want you to stop thinking like that, oui?"

Danielle smiled weakly, and nodded. Delphine picked up her phone again and dialed Leekie.

"I've told her we're leaving later, Aldous. Her parents are coming, too."

Danielle sat in front of her, and nodded approvingly.

"Ouais. I agreed. It's okay, though?" She nodded. "Merci." She hung up, and slapped her palms on her thighs as if to say 'it's done'.

"The car will be here for us at 7. Your parents will follow tomorrow morning."

Danielle nodded.

"Oui, and I'm sorry, but I just can't go without them."

Delphine wholeheartedly agreed.

"Yes, of course. I think it's a good idea."

Danielle's gaze dropped into her lap, and she picked nervously at her chipped nails.

Delphine took Danielle by the shoulders and locked their eyes together.

"We can do this. We can."

Danielle nodded, and raised a hand to her own shoulder to grasp Delphine's hand.

"Nous pouvons."

"Come on, ChouChou," Delphine crooned, carrying the little cat in an old cardboard box lined with towels. "You don't get away from us that easily."

Danielle lugged hers and Delphine's bags down the path, and up to the car where their chauffer picked them up lightly and put them into the boot.

They drove out of Paris, Danielle watching wistfully as they left through the suburbs. The interior of the sleek black limousine was cool, and the air conditioning blew at the fuzzy curls around her face. Delphine sat with one hand in the cardboard box, stroking their kitten absent-mindedly as she stared out of the tinted windows.

"How long's the journey, Delphine?" She asked, glancing warily at the chauffer's sunglass covered eyes in the rear view mirror.

"Oh, only about an hour, I would think," She smiled, peeling her eyes from the grey image of the suburbs outside.

Danielle nodded, and sighed. She hoped to God that they weren't being followed.

**AN: Ok, that's it for tonights little stint, just wanted to get a few more chapters up. I always appreciate your views and thoughts _chers lecteurs (dear readers) _so if you wouldnt mind, shot a wee comment in that box down there for us. cheers :3 soz for the emotional turmoil. its sad aint it**


	31. Chapter 31

**AN: If you want you can try Intermission or C'était Salement Romantique by Coeur de Pirate with this chapter, they're both pretty nice :) but i wrote it listening to fields of gold hahaha**

They arrived at a small cottage, a very idyllic image when the situation which had been the cause of their visit was anything but. The sleek black car pulled away from the dusty road and the bright yellow cornfields on either side, and swung round into the small drive which had a low wooden gate about half-way up. The small white cottage had ivy growing up its stone walls, and a peeling once-red door which could now be described more as orange. The sun was setting warm on their faces, and Danielle could see her own eyelashes as she blinked in the orange glow. Delphine's brown hair was fiery and warm when she stood in front of the sun, and she was aware that Danielle's worried gaze softened as their eyes met.

The chauffeur hauled out their bags without a word, pushed open the rickety old door and handed them the key. Once they had everything inside, he bowed his head a little and left them to it, making back to his car. Delphine scurried out to thank him 'secretly' and told him to tell Doctor Leekie that she was grateful.

As she returned back to the house, she found Danielle sitting gingerly on a musty armchair in the half-darkness, stroking a restless ChouChou. She dropped her down onto the slate floor, her tiny claws clicking across the stone.

"What do you think?" Delphine asked, looking around. "I think it seems nice."

"Yeah," Danielle half-smiled. It was hard to think anything was nice in the circumstances. This wasn't her home, it was her prison, just a reminder of what her life had become. "It's nice. I always wanted to live in the countryside."

"Really? I was always a city girl," Delphine laughed a little, surveying the old paintings which hung skew-wiff on the lumpy walls. "But I'm sure we can make something good out of this."

"I wonder how –"Danielle paused. She never liked to refer to Leekie by name, and so avoided doing so. "The DYAD got hold of this place? It still looks like someone lives here,"

Delphine looked down at the full basket of wood, and the dust-free bookshelf, and nodded.

"Yes, I wonder too. Perhaps they bought it from somebody; anybody trying to sell a house out here wouldn't have much luck otherwise. We're really in the middle of nowhere," She smiled weakly, parting the thick curtains to watch the sun set.

They explored the house separately; Delphine admiring the kitchen and the view from the window, and Danielle jogging up the steep – non banistered stairs to see their rooms. There were two bedrooms; each with a double bed and floral curtains. Patchwork rugs covered the bare wooden-boarded floors, and there was a slight musty smell of lavender and lemon which hung in the air.

Delphine was attempting to carry her bag up the stairs when Danielle met her half way and helped her to drag it up. Once they'd brought all their cases into their room, Danielle suggested they go for a walk. The sky was truly orange now, and fluffy pink clouds streaked the sky. They left ChouChou inside to curl up on their bed, and locked the door out of habit.

Danielle led the way; neither knew where they were going, but Danielle was attracted to the sweet smell of the neighbouring corn fields, which shone like gold in the evening light, and crinkled audibly as they swayed in the breeze.

Danielle dragged Delphine by the hand, and they climbed over a weathered wooden fence to reach the golden fields. Neither knew why, but they began to run through the corn, the wheat whipping Delphine's bare legs as she ran. Their laughter danced in the still, colourful air, and Danielle had to jump in the air to see far enough to spot Delphine's brown hair protruding over the sea of corn. She snaked her way through the tall stalks and made her way back to her friend, and they found a patch of rapeseed plants, their glorious yellow lighting up the whole field. It had always reminded Delphine of the Wizard of Oz; a cross between the yellow brick road and the field of poppies. She imagined falling into a deep, lethargic sleep in the middle of the yellow stalks. They lay down, side by side, and watched as fat bumble bees drifted above their faces, their legs covered in a sticky powdery yellow.

Danielle smiled slightly, and sighed.

Delphine crossed her feet as they lay on their backs. She closed her eyes, and let the warmth of the suns last rays glow through her eyelids. She inhaled deeply, comfortably, and reached out to put her palm against Danielle's.

"Delphine-" Danielle began, exhaling shakily. "If something happens to me, I want-"

"No," Delphine shook her head, and looked across to Danielle. Her black curly hair was splayed all around her head, and her dark eyelashes were tinted brown in the sun. "I won't let you talk like that. We're safe here." She paused. "Besides, I would die before I let anyone hurt you,"

Danielle furrowed her brow slightly, completely surprised. "Vraiment?" She whispered.

Delphine hadn't realised the gravity of what she had just said, but realised she meant it.

She nodded her head, and smiled a little, her large eyes completely absorbed in her friend and their surroundings. "Yeah," She whispered.

"Delphine," Danielle murmured, furrowing her eyebrows. "Promise me you won't go risking yourself for me,"

Delphine just laughed, and looked back up at the sky and the wispy thin clouds. But she could still feel Danielle's gaze on the side of her cheek.

"Delphine,"

"Quoi?" She laughed slightly.

But Danielle was completely serious. "I don't want you to put me before yourself. It's me they want." Her stomach twisted with fear, though her words were so noble. "And, just so you know. I would do the same for you. So this is a vicious circle, non?"

Delphine laughed, and closed her eyes.

"Okay then. Neither of us is going to die, okay? Not for anything. Is that a deal?"

Danielle laughed a little, and nodded. "Ouais, a deal."

They lay on their backs, and Delphine traced the shape of a cloud with her ringed fingers. They laughed into the air which buzzed with life and the sweet smell of corn and wheat. It tickled Danielle's throat and nose, but for some reason her allergies didn't seem to bother her. The sun was comfortably warm on her face, and Delphine's smiling face was right beside her. It was, admittedly, almost perfect.

Danielle's parents arrived the following morning, just as Danielle had begun to stir in their bed. She didn't mind sharing with Delphine, especially with the constant fear weighing down on her and the terrifying dreams that would wake her up with a hammering heartbeat. It was grounding to have Delphine slumbering peacefully beside her, and she would feel calmer when she realised she wasn't alone.

**AN: A bit lighter, maybe? I just wanted some more nice things before...y'know. ugh, this fic**


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